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MAN   AND    HIS   ANCESTOR 


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MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 


A   STUDY  IN  EVOLUTION 


BY 


CHARLES    MORRIS 

AUTHOR  OF  "CIVILIZATION:   AN  HISTORICAL  REVIEW 
OF  ITS  ELEMENTS,"  "  THE  ARYAN  RACE,"  ETC. 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON :  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  LTD. 

1906 
All  rights  restrved 


Copyright,  1900, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  February,  1900.      Reprinted 
November,  1902. 
New  edition  September,  1906, 


NorfajooU  l^regg 

J.  S.  Gushing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood  Mass.  U.S.A. 


\        PREFACE 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  intelligent  per- 
son in  this  age  of  the  world  who  has  not  some 
theory  or  opinion  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  man, 
and  perhaps  almost  as  difficult  to  find  any  such 
person  who  can  give  a  good  and  sufficient  reason 
for  the  faith  that  is  in  him.  This  is  especially  the 
case  with  those  who  look  upon  man  as  a  product 
of  evolution,  a  natural  outgrowth  from  the  world 
of  lower  life,  since  here  simple  faith  or  ancient 
authority  is  not  sufficient,  as  in  the  creation  hy- 
pothesis, but  scientific  evidence  and  logical  argu- 
ment are  necessary.  It  is  to  enable  this  class  of 
readers  to  test  the  quality  and  sufficiency  of  their 
belief  that  this  book  has  been  prepared. 

The  question  of  the  evolutionary  origin  of  man 
has  been  by  no  means  neglected  by  recent  authors, 
yet  it  has  been  dealt  with  chiefly  as  a  side  issue  in 
works  of  a  more  extended  purpose,  and  largely  in 
technical  language,  simple  to  the  scientist,  but  dif- 
ficult to  the  general  reader.  The  only  work  that 
makes  this  subject  its  leading  theme,  Darwin's 
"  Descent  of  Man,"  adds  to  it  a  still  longer  treatise 
on   "  Sexual   Selection,"    so   that  the   subject   of 


^/S~^ 


^'ROPERTYOF 

K.  %  M.  C0U£6E  LIBRARY. 


vi  PREFACE 

man's  evolutionary  origin  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  yet  dealt  with  for  itself  alone.  Darwin's 
work,  moreover,  is  now  nearly  thirty  years  old, 
and  to  this  extent  antiquated,  while  at  best  it 
cannot  be  considered  as  well  suited  for  general 
reading. 

These  considerations  have  given  rise  to  the 
present  work,  in  which  an  effort  has  been  made 
to  present  the  subject  of  man's  origin  in  a  popular 
manner,  to  dwell  on  the  various  significant  facts 
that  have  been  discovered  since  Darwin's  time, 
and  to  offer  certain  lines  of  evidence  never  before 
presented  in  this  connection,  and  which  seem  to 
add  much  strength  to  the  general  argument. 

The  subject  is  one  of  such  widespread  interest 
as  to  make  it  probable  that  a  plain  and  brief  pres- 
entation of  it  will  be  acceptable,  both  to  enable 
those  who  are  evolutionists  in  principle  to  learn  on 
what  grounds  their  acceptance  of  this  phase  of 
evolution  stands,  and  to  aid  those  who  are  at  sea 
on  the  whole  subject  of  man's  origin  to  reach  some 
fixed  conclusion.  For  these  purposes  this  little 
book  has  been  set  afloat,  with  the  hope  that  it  may 
carry  some  doubters  to  solid  land  and  teach  some 
believers  the  fundamental  elements  of  their  faith. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Evolution  versus  Creation         .        .        .        i 

II.  Vestiges  of  Man's  Ancestry       ...        5 

III.  Relics  of  Ancient  Man        .        .        .        .21 

IV.  From  Quadruped  to  Biped  ....      39 
V.  The  Freedom  of  the  Arms  ...      54 

VI.  The  Development  of  Intelligence  .  .      68 

VII.  The  Origin  of  Language     .        .  .  .100 

VIII.  How  the  Chasm  was  bridged      .  .  .111 

IX.  The  First  Stage  of  Human  Evolution  .    130 

X.  The  Conflict  with  Nature         .  .  .158 

XI.  Warfare  and  Civilization  .        .  .  -195 

XII.  The  Evolution  of  Morality       .  .  .    206 

XIII.  Man's  Relation  to  the  Spiritual  .  •    225 

vu 


MAN  AND   HIS  ANCESTOR 


EVOLUTION  VERSUS  CREATION 

In  any  consideration  of  the  origin  of  man  we 
are  necessarily  restricted  to  two  views:  one,  that 
he  is  the  outcome  of  a  development  from  the  lower 
animals ;  the  other,  that  he  came  into  existence 
through  direct  creation.  No  third  mode  of  origin 
can  be  conceived,  and  we  may  safely  confine  our- 
selves to  a  review  of  these  two  claims.  They  are 
the  opposites  of  each  other  in  every  particular. 
The  creation  doctrine  is  as  old  almost  as  thinking 
man;  the  evolutionary  doctrine  belongs  in  effect 
to  our  own  generation.  The  former  is  not  open 
to  evidence;  the  latter  depends  solely  upon  evi- 
dence. The  former  is  based  on  authority;  the 
latter  on  investigation.  The  doctrine  of  direct 
creation  can  merely  be  asserted,  it  cannot  be 
argued;  the  statement  once  made,  there  is  noth- 
ing more  to  be  said ;  it  is  an  ipse  dixit  pure  and 
simple.  The  doctrine  of  evolution,  on  the  con- 
trary, founded  as  it  must  be  on  ascertained  facts, 
is  fully  open  to  argument,  and   depends  for  its 

B  I 


2  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

acceptance  on  the   strength   and  validity  of   the 
evidence  in  its  favor. 

If  the  doctrine  of  the  direct  creation  of  man  had 
been  originally  presented  in  our  own  day,  proof  of 
the  assertion  would  have  been  at  once  demanded, 
and  the  only  evidence  admissible  would  have  been 
that  of  witnesses  of  the  act  of  creation.     There 
could,  of  course,  have  been  no  human  witnesses,  as 
there  would  have  been  no  preceding  human  beings, 
and  witnesses  not  human  have,  in  the  present  day, 
no  standing  in  our  courts.     As  the  case  stands, 
however,  the  doctrine  arose  in  an  age  when  man 
did  not  trouble  himself  about  evidence,  but  was 
content  to  accept  his  opinions  on  authority;  and 
this,  strangely  enough,  is  held  by  many  to  be  a 
strong  point  in  its  favor,  it  gaining,  in  their  minds, 
authenticity  from  antiquity.     It  is  claimed,  indeed, 
to  be  sustained  by  divine  authority,  but  this  is  a 
claim   that  has  no  warrant  in  the  words  of  the 
statement  itself,  and  one  to  which  no  form  of  words 
could  give  warrant.     To  establish  it,  direct  and  in- 
contestable evidence  from  the  creative  power  itself 
would  be  necessary,  and  it  need  scarcely  be  said 
that  no  such  evidence  exists.     It  is  not  easy,  indeed, 
to  conceive  what  form  such  evidence  could  take. 
It  would  certainly  need  to  be  something  far  more 
convincing  than  a  statement  in  a  book. 

It  might  have  been  better  for  civilized  mankind 
if  the  opening  pages  of  Genesis  had  never  been 
written,  since  they  have  played  a  potent  part  in 


EVOLUTION   VERSUS   CREATION  3 

checking  the  development  of  thought.  As  the 
case  now  stands,  the  cosmological  doctrines  they 
contain  can  no  longer  claim  even  a  shadow  of 
divine  authority,  since  they  have  been  distinctly 
traced  back  to  a  human  origin.  It  has  been  re- 
cently discovered  that  they  are  simply  a  restatement 
of  the  Babylonian  cosmology,  as  given  in  a  literary 
production  ages  older  than  the  Bible,  an  epic  poem 
of  very  remote  date.  They  are,  doubtless,  an  out- 
growth of  the  cosmological  ideas  of  early  man,  and 
those  who  accept  them  must  do  so  on  the  basis  of 
belief  in  their  probability ;  jt_is .  no  longer  per- 
missible to  claim  for  them  the  warrant  of  divine 
origin. 

Modern  science  stringently  demands  facts  in 
support  of  any  assertion,  the  word  "  faith  "  having 
no  place  in  its  lexicon.  Facts  are  absolutely  and 
necessarily  wanting  in  support  of  the  creation 
doctrine,  and  the  only  argument  its  advocates  can 
advance  is  one  that  deals  in  negatives,  and  demands 
its  acceptance  on  the  ground  that  the  opposite 
doctrine  has  not  been  proved.  Such  an  argument 
is  valueless.  Disproof  of  one  statement  is  never 
proof  of  another.  Its  effect  is  simply  to  leave 
both  unproved,  and  neither,  therefore,  in  condition 
for  acceptance.  In  the  present  case  the  weight 
of  disproof  is  small.  The  facts  in  support  of  the 
evolution  hypothesis  are  multitudinous,  and  many 
of  them  of  great  cogency ;  the  facts  against  it  are 
few,  and   none   of   them   absolute.     It  is  simply 


4  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

argued  that  some  questions  remain  unsolved,  and 
that  there  are  facts  which  seem  inconsistent  with 
the  Darwinian  theory  of  development,  and  which 
no  supplementary  hypotheses  have  explained. 
But  no  advocates  of  evolution  hold  that  the  Dar- 
winian theory  is  final.  Evolution  is  a  growing 
doctrine.  It  has  been  expanding  ever  since  it  was 
first  promulgated.  Various  seeming  difficulties 
have  been  explained  away,  and  it  is  quite  possible 
that  all  may  disappear  as  investigation  widens. 
No  such  arguments  add  any  weight  to  the  opposite 
view,  which  has  not  and  never  could  have  any 
standing  in  science,  since  it  is  impossible  to  ad- 
duce any  facts  to  sustain  it.  We  shall  therefore 
dismiss  it  from  further  consideration,  and  proceed 
to  state  certain  general  facts  in  favor  of  the  evolu- 
tionary hypothesis  of  the  origin  of  man. 


II 

VESTIGES   OF  MAN's  ANCESTRY 

When,  some  centuries  ago,  men  began  to  find 
fossil  remains  of  animals  in  the  rocks,  a  severe 
shock  was  given  to  the  prevailing  doctrine  of  the 
recent  creation  of  the  earth.  The  adherents  of 
the  old  theology  made  strenuous  efforts  to  explain 
away  this  unwelcome  circumstance.  The  shells 
found  had  been  dropped  by  pilgrims  on  their  way 
to  Jerusalem ;  they  were  mineral  simulations  of 
shells;  they  had  been  created  by  the  Deity  and 
placed  where  found;  they  were  anything  but 
what  they  appeared  to  be,  the  existing  evidences 
of  a  long  ancient  period  of  animal  life  reaching 
back  very  far  beyond  the  assumed  date  of  creation. 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  these  explanations, 
especially  the  one  that  God  had  created  fossil 
forms  to  deceive  man,  for  some  incomprehensible 
purpose,  could  not  long  be  maintained.  Some  of 
them  were  inconsistent  with  the  facts,  others  with 
common  sense,  and  in  due  time  it  was  everywhere 
admitted  that  the  earth  is  of  remote  duration  and 
has  been  inhabited  by  animals  and  plants  for 
untold  ages.  Its  structure  revealed  its  history; 
its  annals  were  found  to  be  written  in  the  rocks; 
its  anatomy  was  full  of  the  evidences  of  its  origin. 

5 


6  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

When,  not  many  years  ago,  men  began  to  find  the 
fossil  remains  of  ancient  structures  in  the  body 
of  man  himself,  theology  was  brought  face  to  face 
with  a  problem  as  difficult  to  explain,  from  its  special 
point  of  view,  as  that  of  the  fossils  in  the  rocks. 
As  the  latter  had  threatened  and  finally  disproved 
the  doctrine  of  the  special  creation  of  the  earth, 
so  the  former  assailed  the  doctrine  of  the  special 
creation  of  man,  and  annihilated  it  in  the  minds 
of  many  eminent  scientists.  It  formed  a  promi- 
nent argument  in  favor  of  the  theory  of  organic 
evolution,  and  as  such  calls  for  consideration  here, 
as  a  suitable  groundwork  for  our  special  theme. 

The  structures  referred  to  may  justly  be  called 
fossil,  since  they  present  strong  evidence  of  being 
the  useless  remains  of  structures  which  played  an 
active  part  in  the  bodies  of  some  former  animals. 
A  significant  example  of  this  exists  in  the  vermi- 
form appendix,  a  narrow,  blind  tube  descending 
from  the  caecum  of  man,  and  detrimental  instead 
of  useful,  since  it  is  the  seat  of  the  frequently  fatal 
disease  known  as  appendicitis.  This  tube,  usu- 
ally from  three  to  six  inches  long  and  of  the  thick- 
ness of  a  goose  quill,  is  occasionally  absent  in  man, 
occasionally  of  considerable  size.  It  is  quite  large, 
as  compared  with  the  other  intestines,  in  the  human 
embryo,  but  ceases  to  grow  after  a  certain  stage 
of  development.  The  caecum  is  extremely  long  in 
some  of  the  lower  vegetable-eating  animals,  and  the 
vermiform  appendix  seems  to  be  a  rudiment  of  the 


VESTIGES   OF  MAN'S  ANCESTRY  7 

formerly  extended  portion  of  this  organ.  It  is 
large  in  the  anthropoid  apes,  especially  in  the 
orang,  in  which  it  is  very  long  and  spirally  con- 
voluted. Its  survival  in  man  as  a  useless  and 
dangerous  aborted  organ  is  a  powerful  argument 
in  favor  of  his  descent  from  the  lower  animals. 

In  the  brain  of  man  and  many  of  the  lower 
vertebrates,  hanging  by  two  peduncles,  or  strands 
of  nerve  fibre,  from  the  thalami,  or  beds  of  the 
optic  nerve,  is  a  small  rounded  or  heart-shaped 
body  of  about  the  size  of  a  pea,  known  as  the 
pineal  gland.  It  is  so  destitute  of  any  evident 
function  that  Descartes,  in  lack  of  any  more  prob- 
able explanation  of  its  presence,  ascribed  to  it  the 
noble  duty  of  serving  as  the  seat  of  the  soul.  Late 
research  has  been  more  successful  in  tracking  this 
organ  to  its  lair.  It  is  larger  in  the  embryo  than 
in  the  adult  man,  still  larger  in  some  lower  verte- 
brates, and  in  certain  lizards  has  been  found  to 
exist  as  an  eye,  its  parts  plainly  distinguishable 
under  the  microscope.  It  is  placed  in  the  middle 
of  the  forehead,  between  the  other  eyes,  and  was 
no  doubt  an  active  organ  of  vision  in  some  ancient 
batrachians. 

The  pineal  eye,  as  it  is  now  named,  once  useful, 
long  useless,  has  persisted  as  a  fossil  structure 
through  a  far  extended  line  of  development.  No 
more  convincing  evidence  that  man  gained  his 
body  through  descent  from  the  lower  animals 
could  be  asked  for  than  the  survival  in  the  human 


8  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

brain  of  this  wonderfully  significant  remnant  of  a 
formerly  useful  organ.  Like  various  other  vestiges 
of  ancient  organs,  it  is  not  only  useless  but  detri- 
mental. It  occasionally  enlarges  and  becomes  the 
seat  of  large  and  complicated  tumors,  which  may 
cause  death  by  their  compression  of  the  brain. 

Two  other  structures  common  to  most  of  the 
vertebrate  animals  exist  in  man,  though  they  ren- 
der him  little  or  no  service.  These  are  the  thymus 
and  thyroid  glands,  apparently  vestigial  structures. 
The  thymus  gland  attains  a  considerable  develop- 
ment in  the  embryo  and  shrinks  away  to  the 
merest  vestige  in  the  adult.  It  begins  to  form 
early  in  the  embryo  life  as  an  epithelial  ingrowth 
from  the  throat,  and  extends  from  the  neck  into 
the  chest.  It  continues  to  grow  after  birth,  but 
later  begins  to  shrink  and  nearly  disappears  in 
the  adult. 

The  thyroid  gland  has  a  somewhat  similar  ori- 
gin, it  beginning  as  an  ingrowth  from  the  lower 
section  of  the  pharynx  and  extending  down  to  the 
lower  part  of  the  neck.  It  subsequently  loses  its 
connection  with  the  pharynx,  and  in  adult  life  is  a 
bilobed  structure  on  either  side  of  the  windpipe. 
Like  the  thymus  it  is  a  ductless  gland,  abundantly 
supplied  with  blood-vessels,  and  possesses  a  vast 
number  of  small  cavities,  lined  with  cells  and  con- 
taining an  insoluble  jelly.  So  far  as  appears,  both 
these  glands  are  useless,  or  nearly  so,  to  man ;  or 
if  the  thyroid  performs  any  useful  service  it  is  a 


VESTIGES   OF  MAN'S  ANCESTRY  9 

minor  and  obscure  one.  Such  functions  as  it  may 
have  could  probably  be  performed  by  some  of  the 
other  organs,  while  it  is  positively  detrimental  as 
the  seat  of  goitre.  This  unsightly  disease  is  due 
to  its  enlargement,  either  by  a  great  increase  of 
its  blood-vessels  or  a  development  of  the  capsules 
and  increase  of  their  contained  jelly.  Dr.  S.  V. 
Clevenger  considers  these  organs  to  have  had  a 
branchial  or  respiratory  origin,  saying  that  there 
are  many  reasons  for  believing  them  to  be  rudi- 
mentary gills.  Owen  says  that  the  thymus  ap- 
pears in  vertebrates  with  the  estabhshment  of  the 
lung  as  the  main  or  exclusive  respiratory  organ.  It 
is  wanting  in  all  fishes,  also  in  the  gill-bearing 
batrachians,  siren  and  proteus.  The  thyroid  ap- 
pears in  fishes,  and  Gegenbaur  believes  that  it  may 
have  been  a  useful  organ  to  the  Tunicata  in  their 
former  state  of  existence. 

Dr.  Clevenger,  in  the  American  Naturalist  for 
January,  1884,  points  out  another  curious  structure 
in  man,  'whose  significance  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  previously  observed.  This  is  a  strange  and 
striking  fact  relating  to  the  formation  of  the  veins. 
It  is  well  known  that  these  organs  possess  valves, 
which  permit  the  free  upward  flow  of  the  blood 
toward  the  heart,  but  resist  its  descent  through  the 
action  of  gravity,  in  this  way  aiding  its  return  from 
the  extremities.  The  rule  holds  good  throughout 
the  quadrupeds  that  the  vertical  veins  possess 
valves,  while  they  are  absent  from  the  horizontal 


lO  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

veins,  in  which  they  would  be  of  no  utility.  But 
the  singular  fact  exists  that  in  the  human  trunk 
the  valves  occur  in  the  horizontal  and  are  absent 
from  the  vertical  veins.  In  other  words,  they 
exist  where  they  are  useless  for  their  apparent 
purpose  and  are  absent  where  they  would  be 
useful. 

The  only  conclusion  that  can  reasonably  be  drawn 
from  this  strange  fact  is  that  we  are  here  dealing 
with  a  fossilized  structure,  a  functionless  survival. 
It  leads  irresistibly  to  the  inference  that  man  has 
descended  from  a  quadruped  ancestor,  and  that 
when  his  body  took  the  upright  position  the  struc- 
ture of  the  veins,  not  being  seriously  detrimental, 
remained  unchanged.  Those  which  had  been 
vertical  became  horizontal,  and  retained  their  now 
useless  valves ;  those  which  had  been  horizontal 
became  vertical,  and  remained  destitute  of  valves. 
The  veins  of  the  arms  and  legs,  vertical  in  both 
forms,  retained  their  valves. 

Dr.  Clevenger  points  out  that  the  intercostal 
veins,  which  carry  blood  almost  horizontally  back- 
ward to  the  azygos  veins  and  which  would  run  verti- 
cally upward  in  quadrupeds,  possess  valves.  These 
are  not  only  useless  to  man,  but  when  he  lies  upon 
his  back  they  are  an  actual  hindrance  to  the  free 
flow  of  the  blood.  In  like  manner,  the  inferior 
thyroid  veins,  whose  blood  flows  into  the  innomi- 
nate, are  obstructed  by  valves  at  the  point  of 
junction. 


VESTIGES   OF  MAN'S  ANCESTRY  \\ 

We  quote  from  him  as  follows :  "  There  are  two 
pairs  of  valves  in  the  external  jugular  and  one 
pair  in  the  internal  jugular,  but  in  recognition  of 
their  uselessness  they  do  not  prevent  regurgitation 
of  blood  nor  liquids  from  passing  upward.  An 
apparent  anomaly  exists  in  the  absence  of  valves 
from  parts  where  they  are  most  needed,  as  in  the 
venae  cavae,  spinal,  iliac,  haemorrhoidal,  and  portal. 
The  azygos  veins  have  imperfect  valves.  Place 
men  upon  '  all  fours '  and  the  law  governing  the 
presence  and  absence  of  valves  is  at  once  appar- 
ent, applicable,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain, to  all  quadrupedal  and  quadrumanous  animals : 
Dorsal  veins  are  valved ;  cephalad^  ventrad^  and 
caudad  veins  have  no  valves ^ 

Of  the  few  exceptions  to  this  rule,  he  considers  the 
valves  of  the  jugular  veins  as  in  process  of  becom- 
ing obsolete,  and  the  rudimentary  azygos  valves  as 
a  recent  development.  Valves  in  the  haemorrhoidal 
veins  would  be  out  of  place  in  quadrupeds,  but 
their  absence  in  man  is  a  serious  defect  in  his 
organization,  since  the  resulting  engorgement  of 
blood  gives  rise  to  the  distressing  disease  known 
as  piles.  The  presence  of  valves  would  obviate 
this. 

No  one  can  argue  that  this  useless  and,  to  some 
extent,  injurious  condition  is  a  designed  result  of 
creation.  There  could  not,  indeed,  be  stronger 
evidence  that  man  has  descended  from  a  quadruped 
ancestor.     Dr.  Clevenger  points  out  other  serious 


12  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

results  of  the  upright  position  of  the  body,  from 
which  quadrupeds  are  free.  One  of  these  is  the 
HabiUty  to  inguinal  hernia,  or  rupture,  which  leads 
to  much  suffering  and  frequent  death  in  man. 
Prolapsis  uteri  is  another,  and  a  third  to  which  he 
particularly  alludes  is  difficulty  in  parturition. 

It  has  been  suggested  above  that  the  thyroid 
gland  may  possibly  be  of  some  minor  functional 
importance,  and  that  the  thymus  is  developed  in 
the  embryo  sufficiently  to  be  functional.  As  regards 
the  latter,  no  one  is  likely  to  maintain  that  an  act 
of  direct  creation  would  include  the  production  of 
an  organ  of  some  slight  and  obscure  utility  to  the 
embryo  and  useless  in  later  life.  The  strong  prob- 
ability is  that  this  gland  belongs  in  the  same 
category  with  other  embryonic  survivals  yet  to  be 
pointed  out.  As  regards  the  seeming  function  of 
the  thyroid,  it  may  be  said  that  the  surviving  relic 
of  an  ancient  functional  organ  is  quite  capable  of 
varying  in  structure  and  taking  upon  itself  a  new 
function,  of  minor  value,  which  in  its  absence 
would  be  left  undone  or  be  performed  by  some 
of  the  other  organs. 

A  highly  interesting  example  of  this  exists  in 
the  swim-bladder  of  the  fish,  which  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe  is  a  survival  of  an  ancient  struc- 
ture used  for  quite  a  different  purpose.  It  was 
originally  developed,  in  the  opinion  of  the  writer,^ 

1  "  On  the  Air  Bladder  of  Fishes."  Proceedings  of  the  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  1885. 


VESTIGES   OF  MAN'S  ANCESTRY 


13 


as  an  air-breathing  organ,  in  a  very  ancient  semi- 
amphibious  class  of  fishes,  from  which  the  existing 
bony  fishes  have  descended.  When  the  latter 
resumed  the  gill-breathing  habit,  this  organ  lost 
its  original  function,  and  its  subsequent  history  is 
a  curious  and  significant  one.  In  some  modern 
fishes  it  has  quite  disappeared.  In  others  it  exists 
as  a  minute  and  useless  remnant,  no  larger  than  a 
pea.  In  many  it  has  been  converted  into  the 
swim-bladder,  and  in  this  form  serves  a  useful 
purpose,  but  varies  very  greatly  in  shape  and  size. 
Finally,  in  a  few  instances,  it  retains  some  meas- 
ure of  its  probably  original  function  of  air-breath- 
ing. It  is  a  fact  of  much  significance,  that  those 
fishes  without  a  swim-bladder  do  not  seem  to  be 
at  any  disadvantage  from  its  absence,  but  are  able 
to  make  their  way  vertically  through  the  water 
quite  as  well  as  those  which  possess  this  organ. 
The  presumption,  therefore,  is  that  it  is  of  little 
utility  to  the  fish,  and  that  its  employment  for  this 
purpose  is  a  mere  resultant  of  its  survival  and 
character.  Such  an  organ  could  never  have  been 
evolved  as  an  aid  in  swimming,  since  its  shrink- 
age to  a  useless  rudiment  in  some  cases  and 
its  complete  extinction  in  others  show  that  this 
function  is  in  no  sense  a  necessary  one.  It  is 
there  and  has  lost  its  old  use,  and  is,  in  some 
cases,  adapted  to  another  purpose ;  that  is  all  that 
can  be  said. 

Man  is  the  one  hairless  mammal,  —  or  hairless 


14  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

except  on  a  few  parts  of  his  body.  Yet  the  whole 
body  is  covered  with  a  thin  growth  of  hair,  useless 
for  any  purpose  of  protection,  and  only  explain- 
able as  a  survival  from  the  mammalian  covering. 
The  occasional  considerable  development  of  the 
hair  is  an  indication  pointing  to  such  an  origin. 
This  applies  not  only  to  individuals,  but  to  tribes 
or  races,  as  in  the  instances  of  the  Ainos  of  Japan 
and  some  of  the  Pygmies  of  Africa.  The  disap- 
pearance of  the  hair  in  man  has  been  traced  to 
no  well  established  cause.  Darwin's  view  that  it 
may  have  been  a  result  of  sexual  selection  seems 
the  most  probable  explanation.  Certainly  this  is 
the  case  with  the  beard,  whose  absence  in  women 
shows  it  to  be  of  no  utility,  and  whose  presence  in 
man  is  in  accord  with  the  many  structures  in  male 
animals  apparently  due  to  this  form  of  selection. 

Darwin  has  pointed  out  and  explained  a  very 
curious  peculiarity  of  the  hair  in  man,  which  is  abso- 
lutely inexplicable  except  on  the  theory  of  descent. 
This  is  the  fact  that  the  hairs  on  man's  arms  are 
directed  toward  the  elbow  from  above  and  below, 
thus  growing  in  opposite  directions  on  the  upper 
and  lower  arms.  The  same  peculiarity  exists  in 
the  larger  anthropoid  apes  and  in  some  of  the  gib- 
bons, but  is  not  found  in  the  lower  mammals.  In 
the  apes  it  is  believed  to  be  due  to  the  habit  of 
protecting  the  head  from  rain  by  covering  it  with 
the  hands,  the  hairs  turning  so  that  the  rain  can 
run   downward  freely   in  both   directions    toward 


VESTIGES   OF  MAN'S  ANCESTRY  15 

the  bent  elbow.  This  is  so  useless  in  man  that  it 
can  be  explained  only  as  a  survival. 

There  are  some  other  survivals  in  man  of  ancient 
structures  to  which  a  passing  allusion  must  suffice. 
In  man's  eye  is  a  minute  membrane,  the  semilunar 
fold,  which  is  absolutely  useless  in  his  economy. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  the 
rudiment  of  a  membrane  which  is  fully  developed 
in  many  animals,  and  is  especially  useful  to  birds, 
the  nictitating  membrane,  or  third  eyelid.  Again, 
the  muscles  which  move  the  skin  in  many  animals, 
especially  in  horses,  have  left  inactive  remnants  in 
many  parts  of  the  human  body.  These  are  nor- 
mally active  only  in  the  forehead,  where  they  serve 
to  lift  the  eyebrows,  but  they  occasionally  become 
active  elsewhere.  Thus  there  are  some  persons 
who  can  move  the  skin  of  the  scalp.  Darwin  cites 
some  who  could  throw  heavy  books  from  the  head 
in  this  manner.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
rudimentary  muscles  of  the  ear.  There  are  per- 
sons who  can  move  their  ears  in  the  same  way  as 
is  done  by  the  lower  animals.  Again,  the  whole 
external  ear  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  rudimen- 
tary structure,  since  it  does  not  appear  to  aid  the 
hearing  in  man.  As  regards  the  pointed  ear  of 
man's  probable  ancestor,  Darwin  calls  attention  to 
what  seems  a  trace  in  man  of  the  lost  tip. 

Carrying  this  consideration  farther,  it  may  be 
asked.  Of  what  use  are  the  five  toes  to  man } 
Would  not  a  solid  foot  have  answered  the  purpose 


l6  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

of  walking  quite  as  well  ?  But  as  survivals  their 
presence  is  fully  accounted  for,  since  they  are  in- 
dispensable to  many  of  the  lower  animals.  Ques- 
tion may  also  be  made  of  the  utility  of  the  large 
number  of  bones  in  the  wrist  and  heel  of  man. 
Equal  flexibility  of  the  joint  could  certainly  have 
been  obtained  with  a  smaller  number  of  bones.  It 
is  only  when  these  are  traced  back  to  their  probable 
origin  in  the  walking  organs  of  the  fish  ancestor 
of  the  batrachians  that  their  presence  becomes  ex- 
plainable. They  are  apparently  survivals  of  a 
very  ancient  structure,  originated  for  swimming, 
and  adapted  to  walking. 

As  regards  the  wrist  of  man,  a  curious  predic- 
tion that  a  certain  bone  found  in  some  of  the 
lower  animals,  the  os  centrale^  would  be  found  in 
man  has  been  made  and  verified,  it  being  discov- 
ered as  a  very  small  rudiment  in  the  human  em- 
bryo. The  tail,  so  common  a  feature  in  the  lower 
animals,  but  absent  from  the  higher  apes  and 
from  man,  has  not  vanished  without  leaving  its 
traces.  In  the  human  embryo  it  is  plainly  indi- 
cated ;  and  while  it  vanishes  in  man  beyond  the 
embryo  stage,  it  is  simply  hidden  beneath  the  skin, 
where  its  vertebrae  are  still  apparent,  usually  three, 
sometimes  four  or  five,  in  number.  In  addition  to 
this,  the  muscles  which  move  the  tail  have  left 
traces  of  their  presence,  which  not  infrequently 
develop  into  true  muscles. 

In  the  human  embryo,  indeed,  we  find  ourselves 


VESTIGES   OF  MAN'S  ANCESTRY 


17 


in  the  midst  of  highly  significant  indications  of 
man's  origin.  The  body  of  man  passes  in  its  early 
development  through  a  series  of  stages,  in  each 
of  which  it  resembles  the  mature  or  the  embryo 
state  of  certain  animals  lower  in  the  stage  of  exis- 
tence. It  begins  its  existence  as  a  simple  cell, 
analogous  in  form  to  the  amoeba,  one  of  the  lowest 
living  creatures,  and  later  assumes  the  gastrula  form 
supposed  to  have  been  that  of  the  earliest  many- 
celled  animals.  From  this  state  it  progresses  by 
successive  stages,  each  of  which  has  some  rela- 
tion in  form  to  a  lower  class. 

The  most  significant  of  these  is  that  in  which 
the  embryo  is  closely  assimilated  to  the  fish,  by 
the  possession  of  gill  slits.  There  are  four  of 
these  openings  in  the  neck  of  the  human  foetus, 
and  they  are  at  times  so  persistent  that  children 
have  been  born  with  them  still  open,  so  that  fluids 
taken  in  at  the  mouth  could  trickle  out  at  the 
neck,  the  opening  being  sufficient  to  admit  a  thin 
probe. ^  These  sHts  are  utilized  in  the  developing 
embryo,  one  of  them  being  devoted  to  an  impor- 
tant duty,  that  of  conversion  into  the  external  and 
middle  ear.  Thus  the  opening  for  hearing  is 
an  adaptation  of  what  was  once  an  opening  for 
breathing.  Occasionally  an  ear-like  outgrowth 
appears  on  the  neck,  indicative  of  the  attempt  of 
a  second  slit  to  develop  into  an  ear.  The  purpose 
of   the    gill  slits  is  made  more  apparent   by  the 

1  Sutton,  "  Evolution  and  Disease." 
c 


1 8  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

presence  in  the  embryo  of  gill  arches  of  the  blood- 
vessels, like  those  normal  to  the  fish.  These  dis- 
appear in  common  with  the  slits. 

The  temporary  appearance  of  these  gill  slits  is 
the  strongest  evidence  that  could  well  be  demanded 
that  the  human  embryo  passes  through  the  various 
stages  which  the  adult  has  assumed  in  its  long 
development  in  past  time,  and  that  one  of  these 
stages  was  the  fish.  And  these  form  only  one 
of  the  evidences  of  man's  origin  to  be  found  in 
the  embryo.  Another  which  may  be  mentioned 
is  the  wool-like  hair  which  covers  the  foetus,  and 
whose  presence  is  incomprehensible  except  on  the 
theory  of  descent.  Its  most  probable  explanation 
is  that  it  appears  as  a  passing  survival  of  the  first 
permanent  coat  of  hair  of  the  lower  mammals. 

In  the  milk  teeth  of  man  we  have  another  use- 
less and  often  annoying  survival  of  an  ancient  state 
of  the  dental  organs.  We  cannot  well  imagine 
that  in  any  direct  creation  a  set  of  temporary  teeth 
would  have  been  provided  as  preliminary  to  a  per- 
manent set  —  an  utterly  useless  provision.  But 
when  we  find  that  in  a  lower  stage  of  animal  life 
the  old  teeth  are  periodically  succeeded  by  new 
ones,  we  can  understand  how  a  trace  of  this  con- 
dition has  persisted  in  the  mammalia. 

Other  evidences  of  man's  origin  in  the  lower 
animals  could  be  drawn  from  the  phenomena  of 
atavism,  or  arrest  of  development  in  parts  or 
organs  of  the  body.     Atavism  is  usually  confined 


VESTIGES   OF  MAN'S  ANCESTRY  19 

within  the  line  of  human  descent,  conditions 
appearing  in  many  of  us  which  belonged  to  some 
of  our  human  ancestors  a  few  generations,  occa- 
sionally many  generations,  in  the  past.  But  con- 
ditions now  and  then  appear  which  are  abnormal 
to  man,  but  which  are  normal  to  some  of  the  lower 
animals.  This  tendency  is  exhibited  by  all  organ- 
isms. In  an  occasional  horse  the  long-lost  stripes 
of  the  zebra-like  ancestor  reappear.  Now  and 
then  a  blue  pigeon,  like  the  ancestral  form,  crops 
up  in  a  pure  breed  of  domesticated  birds.  Even 
in  the  details  of  anatomy  some  long-vanished 
character  suddenly  appears. 

Many  instances  of  this  in  man  might  be  cited, 
embracing  various  features  of  the  muscular  and 
other  internal  organs.  The  abnormality  of  club- 
foot may  be  pointed  to  as  a  reversion  to  the  shape 
of  the  foot  in  the  anthropoid  apes.  This,  however, 
is  a  retention  of  a  condition  existing  in  the  foetus  of 
man,  the  foot  being  drawn  up  and  the  sole  turned 
inward  and  upward.  It  is  simply  a  passing  testi- 
mony to  the  ancestral  condition  of  man. 

Again,  we  have  the  fact  that  man  possesses 
normally  only  twelve  ribs,  one  less  than  is  found 
in  the  gorilla  and  the  chimpanzee.  This  leads  to 
the  possibility  that  man  may  have  lost  a  rib  in  his 
development,  and  in  significant  evidence  of  this  is 
the  fact  that  occasionally  a  thirteenth  rib  appears 
in  the  human  framework. 

The  functionless  organs   in  men  are,  as  above 


20  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

said,  closely  analogous  to  the  fossils  in  the  rocks, 
in  that  both  point  back  to  a  period  in  which  they 
were  active,  vital  forms  occupying  a  definite  place 
in  the  long  line  of  animal  life  or  animal  structure. 
The  argument  that  God  directly  created  the  fossils 
is  no  more  absurd  than  the  one  that  He  directly 
created  these  useless  and  at  times  detrimental 
organs.  It  is  impossible  to  offer  a  reason  for  such 
a  futile  exercise  of  creative  power,  unless  that  it  was 
intended  to  make  it  falsely  appear  that  man  arose 
from  the  world  of  life  below  him.  Will  any  one  in 
this  age  assert  that  God  placed  useless  and  danger- 
ous structures  in  the  body  of  man  for  the  incredible 
purpose  of  deceiving  him  in  regard  to  his  origin } 
And  will  it  be  further  asserted  that  the  Deity 
placed  similar  stumbling-blocks  to  the  human 
reason  in  the  embryo,  in  order  to  deceive  those 
who  should  extend  their  researches  to  this  low 
level }  It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  more 
preposterous  idea,  yet  there  is  no  other  escape 
from  what  seems  a  self-evident  fact,  that  man  is  a 
product  of  evolution  from  the  lower  animals,  and 
bears  the  marks  of  his  ancestry  thick  upon  him. 


Ill 

RELICS    OF   ANCIENT   MAN 

If  now,  instead  of  seeking  for  evidences  of  man's 
ancestry  within  the  human  body,  in  survivals  of 
ancient  anatomical  structures,  we  seek  for  them 
within  the  crust  of  the  earth,  we  find  ourselves 
confronted  with  evidences  of  a  great  antiquity  of 
the  human  race,  partly  in  implements  of  human 
manufacture,  partly  in  ancient  or  fossilized  bones 
of  primitive  man.  These  indicate  not  only  great 
remoteness  of  origin,  but  also  a  very  gradual  ad- 
vance from  the  lowest  stage  of  inventive  ability  to 
the  high  level  now  attained. 

These  relics  of  primitive  man  are  divided  by 
Dana  into  ten  varieties.  ( i )  Buried  human  bones  ; 
(2)  stone  arrow  and  lance  heads,  hatchets,  pestles, 
etc. ;  (3)  flint  chips,  left  in  the  manufacture  of 
implements ;  (4)  arrow  heads  and  other  implements 
made  of  bone  and  deer  horn ;  (5)  bones,  teeth,  and 
shells  bored  or  notched  by  human  hands ;  (6)  cut 
or  carved  wood;  (7)  bone,  horn,  ivory,  or  stone 
graven  with  figures,  or  cut  into  the  shapes  of  ani- 
mals ;  (8)  marrow  bones  broken  longitudinally  to 
obtain  the  marrow  for  food ;  (9)  fragments  of 
charcoal  and  other  indications  of  the  use  of  fire ; 

(10)  fragments  of  pottery. 

21 


22  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

Relics  of  the  kinds  above  cited  have  been  found 
at  intervals  for  many  years  past,  but  their  age  and 
significance  were  doubted,  and  only  within  some 
forty  years  has  the  great  antiquity  of  man  upon 
the  earth  been  generally  acknowledged  by  scien- 
tists. The  most  important  early  find  of  ancient 
implements  was  made  by  Boucher  de  Perthes  in 
1 84 1  and  subsequently,  in  the  high  level  gravels 
of  the  valley  of  the  Somme,  in  Picardy,  France. 
In  deep  layers  of  these  gravels,  which  were  depos- 
ited at  a  period  when  the  river  occupied  a  wider 
and  higher  channel  than  at  present,  he  found  rude 
flint  weapons  and  tools,  bearing  plain  evidences  of 
human  workmanship,  and  mingled  with  the  teeth 
and  bones  of  animals,  both  of  living  and  extinct 
species.  Among  the  bones  were  those  of  the 
mammoth  and  the  hairy  rhinoceros,  species  evi- 
dently contemporary  with  man,  though  they  have 
long  since  vanished  from  the  earth.  At  a  some- 
what earlier  date,  implements  of  men,  mingled  with 
bones  of  the  cave-bear,  cave-lion,  hyena,  and  other 
species,  had  been  found  in  the  caves  of  France 
and  Belgium.  These  were  frequently  buried  be- 
neath deposits  of  stalagmite  and  other  materials 
that  must  have  taken  a  long  time  to  accumulate. 

The  significance  of  these  discoveries  was  long 
in  forcing  itself  upon  the  attention  of  scientific 
men.  Nearly  twenty  years  passed  before  Boucher 
de  Perthes  could  get  the  noted  geologists  of  France 
and  England  to  investigate  the  Somme  gravels. 


RELICS   OF  ANCIENT  MAN  23 

When  they  did  so  they  were  quickly  convinced  of 
the  genuine  antiquity  of  these  relics,  and  announced 
it  as  a  fact  beyond  question  that  man  had  lived  in 
the  Somme  valley  and  fashioned  rude  implements 
out  of  flint  during  what  was  known  as  the  Quater- 
nary or  Drift  Period  of  geology. 

The  discoveries  here  made  set  men  actively  at 
work  investigating  elsewhere.  Excavations  were 
made  in  other  high  level  gravels,  caverns  were 
carefully  and  minutely  examined,  Kent's  Cavern, 
England,  was  dug  out  to  its  rock  bottom,  dozens 
of  important  finds  resulted,  and  the  antiquity  of 
man  was  proved  to  extend  back  from  thousands  to 
tens  of  thousands,  if  not  to  hundreds  of  thousands, 
of  years.  And  the  coexistence  of  man  with  the  ani- 
mals whose  bones  accompanied  his  relics  was  proved 
by  unquestionable  evidence,  for  drawings  and  carved 
forms  of  these  animals  were  found,  proving  incon- 
testably  that  man  had  gazed  upon  their  living 
forms.  Thus  the  sketch  of  a  mammoth,  showing 
the  long  hair  which  served  to  protect  this  animal 
from  the  cold,  was  found  engraved  upon  a  piece 
of  mammoth  ivory,  and  one  of  a  group  of  reindeer 
on  a  piece  of  reindeer  horn.  There  were  also 
drawings  of  the  cave-bear,  the  seal,  etc.,  and  one 
very  interesting  group  showing  the  aurochs,  a 
number  of  trees,  and  a  man  with  a  snake  appar- 
ently biting  his  heel.  The  carvings  consisted  of 
the  horn  handle  of  a  dagger,  cut  into  the  shape  of 
a  reindeer,  and  other  forms. 


24  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

That  these  relics  belong  to  a  far  distant  age  is 
proved  by  the  strongest  evidence.  It  must  suffice 
here  to  give  some  of  the  more  striking  of  these 
proofs  of  antiquity.  The  flint  hatchets  found  at 
St.  Acheul,  France,  were  obtained  from  a  gravel 
bed  which  lay  below  twelve  feet  of  sand  and  marl. 
On  the  surface  was  a  layer  of  soil,  in  which  were 
graves  of  the  Gallo-Roman  period,  showing  that  it 
had  been  there  for  at  least  fifteen  hundred  years. 
The  time  needed  for  the  slow  accumulation  of 
the  whole  series  of  deposits  must  have  been  very 
considerable. 

A  much  more  decisive  proof  of  antiquity  is 
given  by  the  position  in  which  this  and  similar 
gravel  beds  lie.  They  are  found  along  the  sides 
of  rivers  at  a  height  often  of  a  hundred  or  two 
hundred  feet  above  the  flood  level  of  the  streams. 
When  they  were  deposited,  the  rivers  must  have 
run  at  this  elevation,  so  that  time  has  since  elapsed 
sufficient  for  the  streams  to  cut  down  their  valleys 
to  the  present  depths.  The  streams  may  have 
formerly  been  of  greater  volume,  and  had  superior 
cutting  powers,  and  they  may  have  been  aided 
by  the  ice  of  the  Glacial  Age,  yet,  however  we 
estimate,  the  conclusion  is  inevitable  that  the  men 
who  dropped  their  implements  into  those  gravels 
must  have  lived  upon  the  earth  ages  before  the 
beginning  of  historical  times. 

The  presence  there  of  remains  of  animals  which 
ages  ago  perished  from  the  earth  is  another  cir- 

f'ROPERTY  OF 


RELICS   OF  ANCIENT  MAN  2$ 

cumstance  indicative  of  high  antiquity.  These 
embrace  the  mammoth,  —  the  great  hairy  elephant 
of  prehistoric  times,  —  an  extinct  hair-clad  rhinoc- 
eros, the  large  and  powerful  cave-bear  and  cave- 
lion,  the  great  Irish  elk,  and  still  other  animals  of 
whose  existence  we  know  only  by  their  bones. 
Others,  which  existed  in  common  with  men  of 
later  date,  are  the  reindeer  and  the  musk-ox, 
species  of  which  now  inhabit  the  coldest  regions 
of  the  north,  and  whose  presence  in  southern 
Europe  at  that  era  seems  to  indicate  a  much  colder 
climate  than  that  of  historic  times. 

The  evidences  of  human  antiquity  here  briefly 
presented  are  accompanied  by  indications  of  a 
gradual  development  of  the  human  intellect.  If 
man  has  "  fallen  from  his  high  estate,"  he  has  left 
no  traces  of  this  high  estate  on  his  downward 
path.  We  possess  abundant  indications  of  his 
upward  climb,  we  find  none  of  a  preceding  de- 
scent. If  we  base  our  opinions  on  known  facts, 
the  theory  of  development  is  the  only  one  that 
can  be  sustained;  the  doctrine  of  a  fall  is  absolutely 
without  warrant  outside  the  pages  of  Genesis. 

The  successive  stages  of  man's  mental  develop- 
ment, as  indicated  in  the  work  of  his  hands,  are 
well  and  clearly  marked.  At  the  lowest  level  we 
find  tools  and  weapons  of  the  palaeolithic  or  old 
stone  age,  made  of  roughly  chipped  stone,  rude  in 
form,  and  never  ground  or  polished.  These  pre- 
sent some  evidence  of  gradual  improvement,  but 


26  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

we  must  go  to  a  higher  level  to  find  implements 
of  a  decidedly  higher  order,  the  neatly  shaped  and 
polished  stone  implements  of  the  neolithic  or  new- 
stone  age.  With  the  coming  of  these  appears 
a  much  greater  diversity  in  tools  and  weapons, 
and  evidences  of  a  growing  skill  in  manufacture 
and  a  considerably  greater  power  of  invention. 
Still  higher  lie  the  deposits  of  the  bronze  age,  in 
which  metal  replaces  stone  in  human  implements. 
Finally  appears  the  age  of  iron,  that  in  which  we 
still  remain.  We  need  merely  refer  in  passing  to 
the  lake-dwellings  of  Switzerland,  with  their  many 
interesting  relics  of  man  during  the  later  stone, 
the  bronze,  and  the  early  iron  eras ;  and  the 
kitchen-middens,  or  refuse-heaps,  of  the  Danish 
islands  and  elsewhere,  which  extend  from  the  old 
stone  age  far  down  toward  the  historic  period. 

These  are  but  a  portion  of  the  evidences  of 
man's  antiquity  and  his  gradual  progress  in  the 
arts  of  manufacture.  Others  have  been  found  in 
many  parts  of  the  earth.  Many  of  them  exist  in 
America,  proving  that  man  resided  on  this  conti- 
nent at  a  very  distant  era.  When  we  consider 
that  late  discoveries  in  Babylonia  appear  to  carry 
back  the  age  of  civilization  and  historical  relics  to 
some  ten  thousand  years,  and  that  semi-civilization 
must  have  extended  very  considerably  beyond  that 
time,  the  vista  of  man's  gradual  progress  seems  to 
recede  interminably  and  the  era  of  primitive  man 
to   stretch    backward    to   an   enormously   remote 


RELICS   OF  ANCIENT  MAN  2/ 

period.  In  truth,  discoveries  have  been  made 
which  are  claimed  to  carry  man  back  beyond  the 
Quaternary  and  into  the  Tertiary  Period  of  geology, 
since  cut  and  scratched  bones  have  been  found  in 
Pliocene  deposits,  which  some  geologists  of  expe- 
rience believe  to  have  been  the  work  of  human 
hands.  Still  more  remote  are  some  seemingly 
chipped  flints  and  bones  cut  in  a  way  that  suggests 
human  action,  which  have  been  found  in  deposits 
of  the  very  far-distant  Miocene  Age.  The  immense 
remoteness  of  this  epoch  and  the  rudeness  of  the 
work  have  cast  much  doubt  on  the  human  origin 
of  these  remains,  though  their  authenticity  as  the 
work  of  man  has  been  accepted  by  several  com- 
petent observers,  among  them  the  able  anthropolo- 
gist, Quatrefages. 

If  we  confine  ourselves,  however,  to  the  conclu- 
sions regarding  ancient  man  which  are  generally 
accepted,  we  must  say  that  he  has  not  been  clearly 
traced  back  beyond  the  Glacial  Period,  though 
some  of  the  relics  found  in  the  older  river  gravels 
and  in  the  lowest  cave  accumulations  may  well  be 
of  pre-glacial  age.  Many  geologists  believe  that 
he  reached  Europe  as  early  as  the  extinct  mam- 
mals with  which  he  was  contemporaneous  there, 
but  how  far  back  in  time  this  would  carry  his 
advent  it  is  impossible  to  say. 

Coming  now  to  the  consideration  of  more  imme- 
diate human  relics,  the  bones  of  man  himself,  it 
must  be  said   that  well-authenticated   remains   of 


28  MAN  AND   HIS  ANCESTOR 

palaeolithic  or  early  neolithic  man  are  not  numer- 
ous. As  long  as  man  left  his  bones  to  the  unaided 
agencies  of  nature,  they  were  little  likely  to  be  pre- 
served. Of  the  anthropoid  apes  of  Europe,  prob- 
ably numerous  in  individuals,  a  few  remains  of  one 
or  two  species  alone  survive.  Of  pre-glacial  man 
none  remain,  but  this  may  merely  indicate  that  he 
has  shared  the  fate  of  numerous  other  species  that 
died  out  and  left  no  trace.  It  was  only  when  the 
growing  cold  drove  man  from  the  open  woods  to 
seek  shelter  in  caves  that  remnants  of  his  body 
were  likely  to  be  preserved,  and  only  when  a  grow- 
ing sense  of  human  dignity  led  to  the  art  of  sep- 
ulture that  the  preservation  of  his  bones  became' 
assured. 

The  burial  art  was  seemingly  not  practised  by  the 
hunters  of  the  river-drift  period  or  by  men  of  still 
earlier  date.  The  only  remains  of  primitive  man 
known  are  those  found  in  caves  and  rock  shelters. 
A  number  of  human  skulls  have  been  discovered  in 
these  situations,  and  in  a  few  instances  skeletons 
have  been  exhumed.  In  the  neolithic  period  inter- 
ment became  more  common  and  more  carefully 
performed,  and  the  progress  of  this  period  is 
marked  by  many  remains  of  man,  which  in  later 
times  were  buried  in  elaborately  constructed  stone 
sepulchres,  sometimes  massive  in  materials  and 
covered  by  great  earth-mounds. 

What  is  meant  by  the  Glacial  Age  is  probably 
well-known  to  most  readers,  but  its  close  relations 


RELICS   OF  ANCIENT  MAN  29 

to  ancient  man  render  it  important  for  those  who 
are  not  familiar  with  its  meaning  that  a  passing 
description  of  it  should  here  be  given.  It  will 
suffice  to  say  that  there  are  found  over  much  of 
the  northern  portions  of  America  and  Europe 
accumulations  of  clays,  sands,  and  gravels,  some- 
times laid  down  in  stratified  beds,  sometimes  rudely 
piled  together.  In  these  occur  blocks  of  stone, 
large  and  small,  and  other  blocks,  occasionally  of 
great  size,  are  found  in  isolated  localities.  The 
solid  rocks  which  lie  beneath  these  heaps  are  often 
scratched  or  polished,  as  if  the  material  had  been 
pushed  over  them  with  great  force. 

All  geologists  now  believe  that  these  accumula- 
tions were  made  by  ice,  at  some  remote  period 
when  a  very  cold  climate  prevailed  in  the  northern 
hemisphere,  and  great  glaciers  slowly  made  their 
way  southward,  grinding  and  rending  as  they  went, 
and  burying  the  land  under  their  mountain-like 
heaps,  which  sometimes  were  a  mile  or  more  in 
depth.  In  North  America  the  glacial  ice  pushed 
southward  to  the  40th  degree  of  north  latitude. 
In  Europe  it  extended  to  the  Alpine  region,  but 
failed  to  reach  the  countries  bordering  on  the 
Mediterranean. 

The  elaborate  and  minute  investigation  of  the 
glacial  deposits  has  made  it  highly  probable  that 
there  were  two  glacial  eras,  two  periods  in  which 
the  ice  pushed  down  far  to  the  south,  and  that 
these  were  separated  by  a  period  in  which  the  ice 


30  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

retreated  and  an  age  of  warmer  weather  inter- 
vened. This  is  known  as  the  interglacial  period. 
So  far  as  can  be  positively  ascertained,  all  the 
authentic  relics  of  man  belong  to  the  Glacial  Age. 
They  seem  first  to  become  numerous  in  the  inter- 
glacial period,  and  continue  to  increase  and  be- 
come diversified  as  we  descend  lower  in  time. 
How  long  ago  it  was  that  the  sea  of  ice  began  its 
downflow  over  the  earth  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
Some  place  it  back  six  hundred  thousand  or  seven 
hundred  thousand  years.  Some  seek  to  bring  it 
down  to  a  quite  recent  date.  It  is  still  so  un- 
certain and  such  a  matter  of  controversy  that  the 
utmost  we  are  able  definitely  to  say  is  that  it  was 
very  long  ago. 

While  there  is  no  positive  proof  that  men  dwelt 
in  Europe  before  the  coming  on  of  the  glacial 
chill,  we  have  no  just  reason  to  doubt  it.  That  he 
lived  there  during  glacial  times  is  unquestionable, 
and  we  may  be  very  well  assured  that  a  naked 
tropical  animal,  destitute  of  the  hairy  covering  of 
the  other  animals,  would  not  have  chosen  that  frozen 
period  to  migrate  to  the  north.  The  fact  that  he 
was  there  during  the  ice  age  seems  satisfactory  evi- 
dence that  he  was  there  before  that  age,  during  the 
mild  climate  of  late  Tertiary  times,  and  that — for 
a  reason  which  we  shall  hereafter  consider  —  he 
was  caught  there  and  unable  to  retreat,  and  was 
forced  to  adapt  himself  to  the  new  conditions. 

During  the  warm  preceding  period  he  probably 


RELICS   OF  ANCIENT  MAN  3 1 

wandered  as  a  hunter  through  the  European  for- 
ests. But  with  the  gradual  coming  on  of  a  wintry 
chill,  as  the  advance  of  the  ice  began,  shelter  of 
some  kind  became  necessary,  and  he  sought  refuge 
in  caves.  From  being  a  forest  wanderer  he  be- 
came a  troglodyte.  Everywhere  in  southwestern 
Europe  we  find  traces  of  this  period  of  man's  exist- 
ence. There  is  hardly  a  cave  or  rock  shelter  in 
that  region  within  which  he  has  not  left  his  marks. 
He  made  his  way  to  England,  which  was  probably 
then  connected  by  land  with  Europe,  and  dwelt 
long  in  its  caverns.  His  period  of  cave  residence, 
indeed,  appears  to  have  been  a  very  extended  one. 
While  it  continued,  deposits  many  feet  in  depth 
gradually  accumulated  on  the  floors  of  the  caverns, 
slowly  filling  them  up.  And  that,  in  some  cases 
at  least,  this  cave  residence  ended  a  very  long 
time  ago,  we  are  assured,  for  since  then  a  great 
thickness  of  stalagmite,  which  is  deposited  with 
extreme  slowness,  has  spread  over  the  lower  cave 
deposits  and  sealed  them  in. 

It  is  in  these  caves  that  we  find,  not  only  the 
rude  stone  spearheads,  scrapers,  hammers,  etc., 
the  bone  awls,  borers,  and  other  implements  of 
palaeolithic  man,  but  the  bones  of  man  himself. 
And  it  is  significant  of  his  primitive  condition 
that  these  earliest  relics  indicate  a  man  of  a  very 
low  grade  of  development,  mentally  far  above  the 
ape,  it  is  true,  but  mentally  and  physically  much 
below  modern  man. 


32  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

The  most  ape-like  of  those  human  remains  is 
the  famous  Neanderthal  skull,  found  in  1856  in  a 
limestone  cavern  of  the  Neanderthal  Valley,  be- 
tween Diisseldorf  and  Elberfeld,  in  Rhenish  Prus- 
sia. The  relics  discovered  consist  of  the  brain 
cap,  two  femori,  two  humeri,  and  other  fragments. 
The  fragment  of  the  skull  attracted  wide  attention 
by  its  bestial  aspect,  it  presenting  a  low,  narrow 
and  receding  forehead,  and  an  enormous  thickness 
of  the  bony  ridges  over  the  eyes,  like  that  seen 
in  the  gorilla.  This  skull,  which  was  associated 
with  remains  of  the  cave-bear,  hyena,  and  rhinoc- 
eros, is,  with  one  exception,  the  most  ape-like  human 
relic  yet  found.  Yet  its  cranial  capacity  is  far 
above  that  of  the  highest  apes,  and  is  assimilated 
with  that  of  Hottentot  and  Polynesian  skulls. 

It  has  been  maintained  that  this  is  a  pathological 
specimen,  and  does  not  represent  normal  man. 
But  this  theory  has  been  disproved  by  the  fact  that 
other  skulls  of  similar  cranial  characters  are  now 
known,  indicating  that  the  Neanderthal  cranium 
represents  a  type  of  man,  not  an  abnormal  individ- 
ual. In  the  Spy  Cavern,  in  the  province  of  Namur, 
Belgium,  there  were  found,  in  1886,  two  nearly 
perfect  skeletons  of  a  man  and  a  woman,  both  of 
them  with  very  prominent  eye  ridges,  low,  retreat- 
ing foreheads,  and  large  orbits.  This  was  strikingly 
the  case  with  the  woman.  The  lower  jaws  in  both 
were  heavy,  while  the  woman  was  almost  destitute 
of  a  chin  —  a  marked  ape-like  characteristic.     The 


RELICS   OF  ANCIENT  MAN  33 

tibia  was  shorter  than  in  any  known  race  and 
stouter  than  in  most.  Its  curious  feature  was  the 
articulation  with  the  femur,  which  was  such  that 
to  maintain  the  equihbrium  the  head  and  body 
must  have  been  thrown  forward,  as  is  the  case  in 
the  anthropoid  apes. 

In  the  cave  of  Naulette,  near  Dinant,  Belgium, 
has  been  found  the  lower  jaw  of  a  man  of  decidedly 
ape-like  aspect.  Its  prognathism  or  protrusion 
is  extreme,  and  the  canine  teeth  were  very  strong, 
while  the  molars  were  evidently  large  and  increased 
in  size  backward,  a  non-human  characteristic.  At 
La  Denise,  in  the  upper  Loire,  France,  have  been 
found  the  frontal  bones  of  a  man  like  the  Neander- 
thal man  in  type,  the  forehead  being  depressed  and 
retreating,  and  the  superciliary  ridges  large  and 
thick.  Several  other  skulls  of  this  general  type 
are  known,  but  the  above  will  suffice  as  examples. 

Remains  of  palaeolithic  man  of  considerably 
higher  type  are  not  wanting.  In  the  rock  shelter 
of  Cro-Magnon,  France,  were  found  the  bones  of 
three  men,  one  woman,  and  one  child,  of  more 
advanced  character.  These,  however,  are  of  late 
date  and  may  have  been  early  neolithic.  At  Engis, 
near  Liege,  Belgium,  a  deeply  buried  skull,  asso- 
ciated with  many  remains  of  extinct  animals,  has 
been  dug  up,  which  is  by  no  means  ape-like  in 
character.  A  still  superior  example  of  palaeolithic 
man  is  the  skeleton  found  in  a  cavern  at  Mentone, 
east  of  Nice,  France,  which  represents  a  man  six 

D 


34  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

feet  in  height,  with  rather  large  head,  high  fore- 
head, and  very  large  facial  angle  (85°).  The  cave 
contained  bones  of  extinct  animals,  but  no  trace  of 
the  reindeer. 

There  is  no  occasion  to  speak  here  of  the  many 
remains  of  neolithic  man  that  have  been  exhumed. 
Sparse  in  the  early  part  of  the  age  of  polished 
stone  weapons,  they  gradually  became  numerous, 
and  merged  into  the  human  remains  of  late  pre- 
historic times.  The  American  continent  is  not 
without  its  relics  of  ancient  man,  the  most  famous 
of  which  is  the  Calaveras  skull,  found  in  1886  in 
the  auriferous  gravels  of  Calaveras  County,  Cali- 
fornia, at  an  extraordinary  depth.  The  miners,  in 
excavating  a  shaft,  passed  through  several  layers 
of  lava  and  gravel,  forming  a  total  thickness  of 
seventy-nine  feet  of  lava  and  a  considerable  thick- 
ness of  gravel,  making  nearly  one  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  in  all.  At  this  depth  a  skull  was 
found  imbedded  in  the  gravel,  which,  if  authentic, 
must  have  been  overflowed  by  several  successive 
thick  outpours  of  lava  in  the  ancient  volcanic  era 
of  that  region.  As  its  authenticity  is,  however, 
still  a  matter  of  controversy,  nothing  further  need 
here  be  said  about  it. 

Leaving  these  evidences  of  human  antiquity,  we 
come  to  the  most  remarkable  and  significant  of  all 
the  known  relics  of  man,  if  indeed  it  is  man,  for  it 
seems  to  many  a  link  between  man  and  the  ape, 
—  not  yet  human,  while  no  longer  simian.     This  is 


RELICS  OF  ANCIENT  MAN  35 

the  fossil  find  made  by  Dr.  Eugene  Dubois  in 
1 89 1  on  the  banks  of  the  Bengawan  River,  Java, 
and  named  by  him  Pithecanthropus  erectus,  he 
maintaining  that  it  represents  a  new  genus  of 
upright  animals,  or  even  a  new  family.  The 
remains  found  by  him  consisted  of  the  upper 
part  of  a  skull,  a  molar  tooth,  and  a  femur,  pos- 
sibly not  belonging  to  a  single  individual,  as  they 
were  somewhat  separated.  These  were  exhumed 
from  a  stratum  of  volcanic  tufa,  claimed  to  be  of 
Tertiary  age,  but  perhaps  Quaternary,  and  lay  at 
a  depth  of  some  forty  feet  beneath  the  surface. 

The  femur  very  closely  resembles  that  of  a  human 
being  of  average  size,  and  its  shape,  articulating 
surface,  and  other  characters  show  clearly  that  the 
animal  stood  habitually  erect.  The  principal  signi- 
ficance lies  in  the  tooth  and  the  cranium.  The 
former  is  like  that  of  the  chimpanzee  in  shape, 
but  less  rugose  on  its  grinding  surface.  It  seems 
to  lie  between  the  ape  and  the  human  type  of 
dentition.  The  cranium  has  a  low,  depressed 
arch,  with  a  very  narrow  frontal  region  and  highly 
developed  superciliary  ridges.  The  cranial  capacity 
was  apparently  about  one  thousand,  that  of  man 
being  from  thirteen  hundred  to  fourteen  hundred. 
It  is  therefore  said  to  be  "the  lowest  human  cra- 
nium yet  described,  very  nearly  as  much  below  the 
Neanderthal  as  that  is  below  the  normal  European." 

Professor  O.  C.  Marsh,  in  a  paper  on  the  subject 
in  the  American  Journal  of  Science,  for  February, 


36  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

1895,  agrees  with  Dr.  Dubois  in  his  view  of  the 
distinct  position  of  this  form  in  the  animal  king- 
dom, and  says  that  the -discoverer  ''has  proved 
the  existence  of  a  new  prehistoric  anthropoid  form, 
not  human,  indeed,  but  in  size,  brain  power,  and 
erect  posture  much  nearer  man  than  any  animal 
hitherto  discovered,  living  or  extinct." 

We  have  here  given  a  short  review  of  a  long 
story.  The  evidences  of  man's  former  existence 
upon  the  earth  are  multitudinous,  but  any  extended 
consideration  of  them  is  aside  from  our  purpose, 
which  is  merely  to  show  that  the  proofs  of  man's 
descent  found  in  his  physical  structure  are  strength- 
ened by  evidences  which  he  has  left  strewn  behind 
him  in  his  long  march  down  the  ages.  Only  a 
single  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from  these  ves- 
tiges of  man  excavated  from  caves  and  gravels, 
namely,  that  they  indicate  a  gradual  and  steady 
progression  upward  from  a  very  low  condition, 
while  they  nowhere  give  evidence  of  the  traditional 
fall  of  man. 

This  is  certainly  the  case  with  the  relics  of 
human  workmanship.  They  begin  with  the  rudest 
chipped  stones,  and  very  slowly  improve  in  form 
and  finish  and  become  more  varied,  as  we  move 
upward  in  our  search.  The  ground  and  polished 
stones  follow,  and  the  variety  of  implements  con- 
siderably increases,  until  at  length  the  age  of 
metal,  with  its  developed  industries,  is  reached. 
The   only  seeming  evidence  of   superior  intellect 


RELICS   OF  ANCIENT  MAN  37 

to  be  found  in  this  gradual  progress  is  that  of  the 
drawings  and  carvings  left  us  by  one  group  of 
palaeolithic  men.  But  the  actual  mental  develop- 
ment indicated  by  these  becomes  problematical 
when  we  consider  that  similar  drawings  are  made 
to-day  by  the  Bushmen  of  South  Africa,  a  race  of 
men  occupying  a  very  low  mental  stage.  From 
this  fact  we  may  fairly  conclude  that  the  posses- 
sion of  a  simple  graphic  art  does  not  necessarily 
indicate  any  considerable  intellectual  advance. 

If  we  consider  the  remains  of  man  himself,  the 
few  bones  which  mark  his  early  pathway  through 
time,  a  similar  conclusion  must  be  drawn.  Begin- 
ning with  Pithecanthropus,  which  science  is  yet  in 
doubt  whether  to  class  with  the  apes  or  with  men, 
we  pass  upward  to  the  bestial  Neanderthal  man 
and  his  fellows  of  the  same  low  type.  Of  the 
sparse  remains  of  palaeolithic  man  that  exist,  the 
most  are  of  this  degraded  type.  The  cranial  capac- 
ity is  usually  not  small.  They  had  the  full  brain 
development  of  man.  But  this  simply  assimilates 
them  with  the  low  races  of  existing  savages,  many 
of  whom  have  not  developed  the  simple  art  of 
chipping  stone  to  form  weapons  and  yet  have 
brains  of  normal  human  weight. 

In  truth,  the  influences  under  which  the  develop- 
ment of  the  brain  took  place  were  not  what  we  now 
call  intellectual.  Developing  man  used  his  mental 
powers  actively  in  his  dealings  with  the  hostile 
forces  of  surrounding  nature,  and  nearly  all   the 


38  MAN  AND  HIS  AXCESJ  OK 

forces  of  evolution  were  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
organ  of  the  mind,  the  body  remaining  practically 
unchanged.  His  senses  became  acute,  his  cun- 
ning and  alertness  high,  his  use  of  weapons  skil- 
ful, but  his  field  of  mental  exercise  was  still  the 
outer  world,  and  the  inner  world  of  thought  re- 
mained in  its  embryo  state.  The  more  recent 
development  of  the  mind  has  been  in  its  intellec- 
tual powers,  while  its  physical  aptitudes  have  some- 
what declined.  This  has  not  yielded  any  marked 
increase  in  the  dimensions  of  the  brain,  but  it  may 
have  had  a  decided  effect  upon  the  proportion 
of  its  parts,  the  regions  of  the  cerebrum  devoted 
to  intellectual  activity  probably  increasing  at  the 
expense  of  the  motor  and  sensory  regions,  while 
the  convolutions  may  have  grown  considerably 
more  complicated. 


IV 


FROM    QUADRUPED    TO   BIPED 

In  the  question  which  now  confronts  us,  that 
of  the  evolution  of  man  from  the  lower  world  of 
animals,  it  is  necessary  first  to  state  in  what  par- 
ticulars he  has  evolved,  what  are  the  conditions 
which  distinguish  him  from  the  lower  animals. 
Four  marked  distinctions  may  be  named  :  his  erect 
attitude,  with  the  freeing  of  the  fore  limbs  from  use 
as  agents  in  locomotion  ;  his  employment  of  natural 
objects,  instead  of  his  bodily  organs,  as  tools  and 
weapons ;  his  development  of  vocal  language ;  and 
his  great  mental  superiority,  with  the  general  use 
of  the  mind  in  his  dealings  with  nature. 

In  none  of  these  particulars  does  man  stand 
quite  alone;  in  all  of  them  an  affinity  with  the 
lower  animals  exists.  Steps  of  progress  in  these 
directions  have  been  made  by  many  animals, 
though  none  of  them  have  gained  any  consider- 
able advance.  In  man's  strikingly  developed 
social  habit  and  organization  he  has  no  close 
counterpart  among  the  vertebrates,  but  several 
among  the  insects.  And  it  is  of  much  interest 
to  find  that  in  the  highest  field  of  man's  progress, 
his  employment  of  the  mind  in  his  dealings  with 

39 


40  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

nature,    he   is   chiefly   emulated    by   such    lowly- 
organized  creatures  as  the  ants  and  the  bees. 

We  do  not  need  to  look  far  among  the  lower 
animals  for  the  species  which  come  nearest  to  man 
in  structure  and  which  seem  to  have  immediately 
preceded  him  in  the  line  of  descent.  We  find 
these  forms  in  the  monkeys  or  apes,  and  especially 
in  their  highest  representatives,  the  anthropoid 
apes.  These  possess  in  a  partial  degree  all  the 
special  characteristics  of  man.  They  are  social  in 
habit ;  some  of  them  are  semi-erect  in  posture,  and 
their  fore  limbs  partly  freed  from  use  in  locomo- 
tion ;  they  possess  some  imperfect  means  of  vocal 
communication ;  they  employ  the  mind  to  some 
extent  in  place  of  the  body ;  in  short,  they  seem 
arrested  forms  on  the  road  from  brute  to  man, 
signal-posts  on  the  highway  of  evolution.  In 
physical  organization  their  approach  to  man  is 
singularly  close.  In  anatomy  man  and  the  higher 
apes  are  in  most  respects  counterparts  of  each 
other.  The  principal  anatomical  distinction  has 
been  considered  to  be  in  the  foot,  which  from  the 
opposable  character  of  the  great  toe  was  classed 
by  Cuvier  with  the  hand,  the  apes  being  named 
Quadrumana,  or  four-handed,  and  man  Bimana,  or 
two-handed.  Fuller  research  has  shown  that  this 
distinction  does  not  exist,  the  foot  of  the  ape  being 
found  to  agree  far  more  closely  with  the  foot  than 
with  the  hand  of  man.  Estimated  according  to 
use,  the  hand  is,  in  the  whole  order,  the  special 


FROM   QUADRUPED    TO  BIPED  4 1 

prehensile  organ ;  the  foot,  however  prehensile  it 
may  be,  is  predominantly  a  walking  organ.  And 
the  opposability  of  the  great  toe  is  approached  in 
some  men,  who  have  great  mobility  in  this  organ, 
and  can  use  it  for  grasping. 

In  regard  to  the  brain,  the  organ  of  the  mind, 
the  difference  between  the  higher  apes  and  man 
is  almost  solely  one  of  comparative  size,  the  lower 
intelligence  of  the  apes  being  indicated  by  the 
smaller  size  of  their  brains.  The  largest  ape 
brain  is  scarcely  half  the  size  of  the  smallest 
human  brain.  But  anatomically  they  are  nearly 
identical.  All  the  structural  features  of  the  brain 
are  common  to  both,  and  the  details  are  largely 
filled  out  in  the  anthropoid  apes,  the  convolutions 
being  all  present  and  the  pattern  of  arrangement 
the  same.  The  brain  of  the  orang  may  be  said 
to  be  like  that  of  man  in  all  respects  except  size 
and  the  greater  symmetry  of  its  convolutions, 
which  are  less  complicated  with  minor  convolu- 
tions than  in  man.  In  truth,  the  difference  be- 
tween the  brains  of  man  and  the  orang  is  almost 
insignificant  as  compared  with  the  difference 
between  those  of  the  orang  and  the  lowest  apes. 
Mr.  E.  W.  Taylor,  who  has  recently  made  an 
exhaustive  study  of  the  minute  anatomy  of  the 
brain  of  the  chimpanzee,  remarks,  "The  similarity 
between  the  brain  of  the  anthropoid  apes  and  of 
man  is  one  of  the  most  singular  and  interesting 
facts  of  which  we  have  knowledge." 


42  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

In  any  attempt,  then,  to  consider  the  origin  of 
man  from  the  point  of  view  of  evolution,  we  are 
irresistibly  drawn  to  the  ape  tribe  as  the  next 
lower  link  in  the  long  chain  of  development,  and 
are  led  to  consider  the  characteristics  of  the  apes 
as  the  intermediate  stage  between  the  quadruped 
and  the  biped,  the  bridge  crossing  this  great  gulf 
in  organic  development.  This  is  by  no  means  to 
suggest  that  some  one  of  the  existing  anthropoid 
apes  is  the  direct  ancestor  of  man.  Such  an  idea 
has  never  been  entertained  by  scientists.  These 
animals  cannot  even  fairly  be  considered  as 
brothers  to  man's  ancestor,  but  must  be  looked 
upon  as  more  or  less  distant  cousins,  with  a  phys- 
ical organization  less  favorable  to  high  develop- 
ment than  that  of  man.  Man's  ancestry  lies  much 
farther  back  in  time,  and  his  progenitor  must  have 
been  constituted  differently  from  any  of  the  exist- 
ing large  apes. 

In  the  ape  tribe  we  are  able  to  trace  nearly  every 
step  by  which  the  gulf  between  quadruped  and 
biped  has  been  crossed,  from  the  quadrupedal 
baboon  to  the  nearly  erect  gibbon.  And  in  seeking 
to  follow  this  development  through  its  successive 
stages,  the  first  point  to  be  considered  is  how  the 
apes  gained  their  special  power  of  grasping,  that 
characteristic  to  which  they  undoubtedly  owe  the 
partial  freedom  of  their  hands  and  their  tendency 
to  assume  the  erect  attitude. 

The  most   distinguishing   characteristic   of   the 


FROM  QUADRUPED    TO  BIPED  43 

apes  and  of  the  nearly  related  lemurs  has  not 
hitherto  been  definitely  pointed  out.  This  is  that 
they  form  the  only  group  of  strictly  arboreal 
animals.  The  tree  is  not  alone  their  native  habitat, 
but  they  are  specially  adapted  to  it  in  their  organs 
of  motion,  a  fact  which  cannot  be  affirmed  of  any 
other  animal  group.  If  we  consider,  for  instance, 
the  squirrels,  one  of  the  best-known  groups  of  tree- 
living  animals,  we  find  them  to  be  members  of  the 
great  order  of  rodents,  whose  native  habitat  is  the 
land  surface.  Though  the  squirrels  have  taken  to 
the  trees,  there  has  been  no  adaptive  change  in  the 
structure  of  their  limbs  and  feet.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  almost  all  tree-dwellers  except  the  lemurs 
and  apes.  The  sloth,  indeed,  is  specially  adapted 
in  organization  to  an  arboreal  residence,  but  this 
change  is  individual,  not  tribal,  this  animal  being 
an  aberrant  form  of  the  ground-dwelling  edentata. 
In  the  apes  and  lemurs,  on  the  contrary,  the 
ground-dwellers  are  the  aberrant  forms,  stray 
wanderers  from  the  host.  Nearly  all  the  species 
live  in  trees,  to  which  they  are  specially  adapted 
by  the  formation  of  their  feet.  It  remains  to 
inquire  how  this  deviation  in  structure  arose,  what 
were  the  steps  of  development  of  the  grasping  foot 
and  hand,  the  special  characteristic  of  this  group. 

In  considering  this  question,  the  first  fact  to 
appear  is  that  the  apes  and  lemurs  are  plantigrade 
animals.  Their  natural  tendency  is  to  walk  on  the 
sole  of  the  foot,  a  habit  which  few  other  tribes  of 


44  ^^^  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

animals  possess.  Most  of  the  larger  animals  walk 
on  the  knuckles  or  the  toes,  and  develop  claws  or 
hoofs,  but  the  ancestral  form  of  the  ape,  ages 
in  the  past,  was  doubtless  a  sole-walking  quadruped, 
its  toes  apparently  provided  with  nails  instead  of 
claws.  What  the  story  of  this  very  ancient  quad- 
ruped was  we  are  quite  unable  to  say.  It  may, 
in  the  exigencies  of  existence,  have  come  to  a 
parting  of  the  ways ;  a  section  of  the  group, 
drawn  by  a  love  of  fruit,  developing  the  climbing 
habit ;  the  remaining  section  continuing  on  the 
ground  and  following  a  separate  line  of  evolution. 
Perhaps  only  a  single  species  took  to  the  trees; 
for  it  is  quite  possible  for  a  single  form,  in  a  new 
and  advantageous  habitat,  to  vary  in  time  into  a 
great  number  of  species. 

Of  all  this  we  can  know  nothing :  but  of  one 
thing  we  may  feel  assured,  which  is  that  the  planti- 
grade foot  is  the  only  one  that  could  have  devel- 
oped into  a  grasping  organ ;  such  a  development 
being  impossible  to  the  digitigrade  or  the  hoofed 
animals.  One  can  readily  see  how  the  habit  of 
walking  on  the  sole  might  tend  to  a  spreading  of 
the  toes,  in  order  to  obtain  a  wider  and  firmer 
footing.  And  it  is  equally  easy  to  see  how  a  free 
and  wide  motion  in  the  great  toe  would  aid  in  this 
result.  The  animal  may  have  been  at  first  light  in 
weight  and  able  to  support  itself  on  its  unchanged 
foot,  but  as  it  increased  in  size  and  weight  it  would 
need  a  firmer  grasp,  and  the  final  result  of  spread- 


FROM   QUADRUPED    TO   BIPED  45 

ing  its  toes  for  this  purpose  may  well  have  been 
the  opposable  great  toe. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  in  this  consideration, 
that  the  apes  differ  from  the  other  tree-dwellers 
in  being  destitute  of  claws.  The  squirrels,  the 
opossums,  and  other  arboreal  animals  have  sharp 
claws,  by  whose  aid  they  can  easily  cling  to  the 
surface  of  the  bark-covered  boughs.  The  nails  of 
the  apes  are  incapable  of  affording  them  this  ser- 
vice, and  it  is  not  easy  to  perceive  how  a  foot  Hke 
theirs  could  become  adapted  to  locomotion  in  the 
trees  otherwise  than  by  the  gaining  of  mobile 
action  and  grasping  power  in  the  toes. 

The  existing  habits  of  the  ape  tribe  lead  us  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  ancestral  animal  may  have 
soon  begun  to  seek  support  from  upper  limbs. 
The  plantigrade  foot  is  one  capable  of  readily 
curving  into  an  organ  of  support,  and  in  the  case 
of  the  forefoot  the  toes  would  tend  to  spread  and 
gain  flexibility  of  motion,  and  the  first  toe  to  become 
opposable  to  the  others  and  yield  a  more  complete 
grasping  power.  It  does  not  seem  difficult  to  com- 
prehend, from  this  point  of  view,  how  the  feet  of  a 
five-toed  plantigrade  animal  may  in  time  have  de- 
veloped into  grasping  organs,  since  there  would  be 
required  only  an  increased  flexibility  of  the  joints, 
and  a  wider  and  fuller  movement  of  the  great  toes. 
That  such  a  change  took  place  in  this  instance  the 
facts  appear  to  indicate,  the  most  simple  and  prob- 
able explanation  of  the  development  of  the  grasp- 


46  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

ing  power  in  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  ape  being 
seemingly  that  given  above. 

The  relation  of  the  lemurs  to  the  apes  is  not 
clearly  defined.  It  may  be  an  ancestral  one,  or 
the  two  animals  may  represent  distinct  lines  of 
descent.  In  the  latter  case  we  would  have  two 
lines  of  animal  evolution  in  which  the  grasping 
power  was  gained  and  adaptation  to  arboreal  life 
completed.  Whatever  their  relationship,  they  both 
possess  the  opposable  thumb  as  the  hall-mark  of 
their  arboreal  habitat,  and  whenever  found  walking 
on  the  ground  they  may  be  looked  upon  as  estrays 
from  their  native  place  of  residence. 

Once  the  grasping  power  was  gained,  the  first 
step  of  change  from  the  quadrupedal  to  the  semi- 
erect  attitude  was  completed.  The  process  may 
have  begun  in  the  effort  to  fit  the  sole  of  the  foot 
to  the  rounded  surface  of  boughs  ;  or  its  first  stage 
may  have  been  in  the  seizing  of  overhead  branches 
with  the  flexible  hand ;  or  both  influences  may 
have  acted  simultaneously.  We  see  the  result 
only,  we  cannot  trace  the  exact  process ;  but  we 
have  as  an  outcome  the  adoption  of  a  method  of 
locomotion  different  from  that  of  all  other  tree- 
dwellers,  the  forefoot  developing  into  the  hand 
with  its  opposable  thumb,  and  the  hindfoot  gain- 
ing a  similar  grasping  power  in  the  toes. 

The  power  of  walking  on  a  lower  limb  and 
grasping  an  upper  one  once  attained,  a  succeed- 
ing  step  in  evolution  quickly  appeared,  and  one 


FROM   QUADRUPED    TO  BIPED  47 

of  prime  importance  to  our  inquiry.  The  animal 
had  ceased  to  be  in  a  full  sense  a  quadruped,  while 
not  yet  a  biped,  and  a  variation  in  the  length  of 
its  limbs  was  almost  sure  to  take  place.  This  is 
an  ordinary  result  when  animals  cease  to  walk  on 
all  fours.  In  the  leaping  kangaroo  and  jerboa  a 
shortening  of  the  arms  and  lengthening  of  the 
legs  appear.  Here  the  arms  are  relieved  from 
duty  and  a  double  duty  is  laid  on  the  legs,  with 
the  consequence  stated.  In  the  ancient  dinosau- 
rian  reptiles,  upright  walkers,  the  same  was  the 
case.  Those  varied  from  quite  small  to  very  large 
animals,  but  in  all  known  instances  the  fore  limbs 
were  greatly  reduced  in  size.  A  similar  condition 
may  be  seen  in  the  birds,  the  bones  of  whose  fore- 
limbs  have  largely  aborted  from  lack  of  employ- 
ment as  walking  organs. 

In  the  case  of  the  apes  and  lemurs,  while  a 
similar  effect  has  taken  place,  an  interesting  dif- 
ference appears,  due  to  the  difference  in  conditions. 
In  these  animals  the  fore  limbs  are  not  freed  from 
duty  as  organs  of  locomotion.  In  many  cases,  on 
the  contrary,  they  have  an  extra  duty  put  upon 
them,  with  the  result  that  they  have  grown  longer 
instead  of  shorter.  Very  likely  these  animals  dif- 
fered considerably  in  the  past,  as  they  do  to-day, 
in  the  degree  of  use  of  their  legs  and  arms.  Many 
of  them  walk  in  the  quadruped  manner,  either  on 
the  ground  or  in  trees.  Others  make  much  use  of 
their  hands  and  arms  in  grasping  and  swinging. 


48  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

Great  differences  in  the  use  of  the  arms  and  legs 
may  have  arisen  in  different  species.  In  some, 
the  legs  may  have  been  mainly  trusted  to  for  sup- 
port, and  the  hands  used  for  steadying.  In  others 
the  arms  may  have  been  the  chief  locomotive  or- 
gans and  the  feet  have  given  steadiness.  Here  the 
legs  may  have  grown  the  longer,  there  the  arms, 
the  hmbs  developing  in  accordance  with  their  de- 
gree of  employment.  In  the  lower  monkeys  and 
the  lemurs,  the  bones  of  the  pelvis  are  altogether 
quadrupedal  in  character.  This  is  not  the  case  in 
the  higher  forms,  and  in  the  highest  apes  the  pel- 
vic bones  approach  those  of  man. 

Highly  interesting  examples  of  these  varied 
results  may  be  seen  in  the  existing  anthropoid 
apes.  In  all  of  them  it  would  appear  that  the  arm 
was  a  prominent  factor  in  locomotion,  for  in  each 
instance  it  is  longer  than  the  leg,  —  but  it  differs 
in  proportional  length  in  every  instance.  It  is 
shortest  in  the  chimpanzee,  somewhat  longer  in 
the  gorilla,  still  longer  in  the  orang,  and  remark- 
ably long  in  the  gibbon.  In  all  these  instances 
the  fact  that  the  arms  exceed  the  legs  in  length 
indicates  that  they  must  have  played  a  large  and 
important  part  in  the  work  of  locomotion,  and 
especially  so  in  the  case  of  the  gibbon.  It  is  well 
known,  in  fact,  that  the  gibbons  progress  very 
largely  by  the  aid  of  their  arms,  swinging  from 
limb  to  limb  and  from  tree  to  tree  with  extraordi- 
nary strength  and  facility.     The  legs  lend    their 


FROM  QUADRUPED    TO  BIPED  49 

aid  in  this,  but  the  arms  are  the  principal  organs 
of  motion,  and  seem  to  have  developed  in  length 
accordingly. 

As  regards  the  other  anthropoid  species,  Wal- 
lace's observations  on  the  habits  of  the  orang  are 
of  interest.  This  animal  usually  walks  on  all  fours 
on  the  branches  in  a  semi-erect  crouching  attitude, 
but  our  naturalist  saw  one  moving  by  the  use  of 
its  arms  alone.  In  passing  from  tree  to  tree  the 
arms  come  actively  into  play.  The  animal  seizes 
a  handful  of  the  overlapping  boughs  of  the  two 
trees  and  swings  easily  across  the  intervening 
space.  While  seeming  to  move  very  deliberately, 
its  actual  speed  was  found  to  be  about  six  miles  an 
hour. 

The  organization  of  man,  as  he  now  exists, 
shows  an  interesting  and  important  deviation  from 
that  of  the  manlike  apes,  and  one  which  serves  as 
strong  evidence  that  none  of  these  apes  occupied  a 
place  in  his  line  of  descent.  This  is  that  he  is  a 
long-legged  and  short-armed  animal,  a  condition 
the  reverse  of  that  seen  in  the  anthropoid  apes. 
While  man's  hands  reach  barely  to  the  middle  of 
the  thigh,  those  of  the  chimpanzee  reach  below 
the  knee,  of  the  gorilla  to  the  middle  of  the  leg,  of 
the  orang  to  the  ankle,  and  of  the  gibbon  to  the 
ground.  All  these  apes  have  short  legs  and  long 
arms.  Man,  on  the  contrary,  has  long  legs  and 
short  arms. 

The   natural  presumption  from  this  interesting 


50  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

fact  is  that  man's  ancestor,  which  we  may  pro- 
visionally call  the  man-ape,  differed  essentially  in 
its  mode  of  progression  from  the  other  apes.  The 
smaller  forms  of  these  usually  move  on  all  fours  in 
the  trees,  though  the  arms  are  always  ready  for  a 
swing  or  a  climb.  The  anthropoid  apes  also  show 
a  tendency  to  a  similar  mode  of  progression, 
though  with  a  difference  in  their  mode  of  walking, 
which,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  is  never  that  of 
the  quadruped.  As  for  the  man-ape,  it  may  have 
originally  walked  in  the  same  manner  as  the  re- 
lated species,  if  we  surmise  that  the  variation  in 
the  length  of  the  limbs  was  a  subsequent  develop- 
ment. Certainly  after  its  limbs  attained  the  pro- 
portions of  those  of  man,  its  facility  of  swinging 
from  tree  to  tree  must  have  been  diminished,  while 
it  would  have  found  it  inconvenient  to  move  in  the 
crouching  attitude  of  the  orang  and  its  fellows. 
Its  easiest  attitude  must  then  have  been  the  erect 
one,  and  its  motion  a  true  biped  walk,  not  the 
swinging  and  jumping  movement  of  the  other 
anthropoids.  In  short,  the  development  of  man's 
ancestor  into  a  short-armed  animal,  however  and 
whenever  it  took  place,  could  not  but  have  inter- 
fered seriously  with  its  ease  of  motion  in  the  trees. 
Though  this  change  may  have  begun  in  the  trees, 
it  probably  had  its  full  development  only  after  the 
animal  made  the  ground  its  habitual  place  of 
residence. 

It  is  of  interest  to  find  that  all  the  existing  large 


FROM   QUADRUPED    TO  BIPED  5 1 

apes  are  arboreal,  the  gorilla  being  the  least  so, 
probably  on  account  of  its  weight.  Though  they 
all  descend  at  times  to  the  ground,  their  awkward 
motion  on  the  surface  shows  them  to  be  out  of 
their  element,  while  they  move  with  ease  and 
rapidity  in  the  trees.  The  organization  of  man 
renders  it  questionable  if  his  primeval  ancestor 
was  arboreal  to  any  similar  extent.  The  indica- 
tions would  seem  to  be  that  it  made  the  ground  its 
habitual  place  of  residence  at  an  early  period  in  its 
history,  and  that  the  result  of  this  new  habit  and 
of  its  erect  attitude  was  a  change  in  the  relative 
length  of  its  limbs. 

That  this  animal  dwelt  mainly  in  trees  in  the 
first  stage  of  its  existence,  and  possessed  a 
powerful  grasping  power  in  its  hands,  we  have 
corroborative  evidence  in  recent  studies  of  child 
life.  The  human  infant,  in  its  earliest  days  of  life, 
displays  a  remarkable  grasping  power,  being  able 
to  sustain  its  weight  with  its  hands  for  a  number 
of  seconds,  or  a  minute  or  more,  at  an  age  when 
its  other  muscles  are  flabby  and  powerless.  It 
appears  in  this  to  repeat  a  habit  normal  to  the 
ancestral  infant,  an  instinct  developed  to  prevent 
a  fall  from  its  home  among  the  boughs. 

Yet  it  is  doubtful  if  the  man-ape  long  remained 
a  specially  arboreal  animal.  The  varied  length 
of  arm  in  the  anthropoid  apes  was  doubtless  of 
early  origin,  and  in  all  probability  man's  ancestor 
had  originally  a  shorter  arm  than  its  related  species. 


52  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

If  SO,  this  must  have  rendered  it  less  agile  in  trees 
than  other  forms.  If  we  could  see  this  ancient 
creature  in  its  arboreal  home,  we  should  probably 
find  it  more  inclined  to  stand  erect  than  the  other 
apes,  walking  on  a  lower  limb,  and  steadying  itself 
by  grasping  an  upper  limb.  This  would  be  a  more 
natural  and  easy  mode  of  progression  to  a  short- 
armed  animal  than  the  crouching  attitude  of  the 
orang  or  the  swinging  motion  of  the  gibbon,  and 
its  effect  would  be  to  make  the  erect  attitude  to  a 
large  extent  habitual  with  this  animal. 

In  short,  man's  ancestor  may  have  become  in 
considerable  measure  a  biped  while  still  largely  a 
dweller  in  the  trees,  and  to  that  degree  set  its 
arms  free  for  other  duties  than  that  of  locomotion. 
Like  the  other  apes,  it  probably  often  descended 
to  the  ground,  where  its  habit  of  walking  erect  on 
the  boughs  rendered  the  biped  walk  an  easy  one, 
or  where  this  habit  may  have  been  originally  ac- 
quired. While  this  is  conjectural,  it  is  supported 
by  facts  of  organization  and  existing  habit,  and  for 
the  reasons  given  it  seems  highly  probable  that  the 
ancestor  of  man  took  to  a  land  residence  at  an 
early  period  in  its  history,  climbing  again  for  food 
or  safety,  but  dwelling  more  and  more  habitually 
on  the  earth's  surface.  Even  at  this  remote  era  it 
may  have  become  essentially  human  in  organiza- 
tion, its  subsequent  changes  being  mainly  in  brain 
development,  and  only  to  a  minor  extent  in  physi- 
cal form  and  structure. 


FROM  QUADRUPED    TO  BIPED  53 

Fossil  apes  have  not  been  found  farther  back 
than  the  Miocene  Age  of  geology.  It  is  quite 
probable,  however,  that  they  may  yet  be  found  in 
Eocene  strata,  since  examples  of  their  highest 
representatives,  the  anthropoid  or  manlike  apes, 
have  been  found  in  Miocene  rocks.  The  fact  that 
these  large  apes  are  now  few  in  number  of  species, 
is  no  proof  that  many  forms  of  them  may  not 
have  formerly  existed,  and  among  these  we  may 
class  the  ancestor  of  man. 


V 


THE   FREEDOM    OF   THE   ARMS 

Man's  ancestor  is  by  no  means  the  only  form  of 
ape  that  has  made  the  earth's  surface  its  place  of 
residence.  The  baboon  is  one  example  of  a  num- 
ber of  forms  that  dwell  habitually  upon  the  ground, 
though  they  have  not  lost  their  agility  in  climbing. 
But  these  species  have  returned  to  the  quadruped 
habit,  to  which  the  equal  length  of  their  limbs 
adapts  them.  All  the  anthropoid  apes  dwell  to 
some  extent  upon  the  ground,  but  these  can  neither 
be  called  quadrupeds  nor  bipeds,  their  usual  mode 
of  progression  being  an  awkward  compromise 
between  the  two.  The  same  may  be  said  of  one 
of  the  lemurs,  the  propithecus,  the  only  member 
of  its  tribe  that  attempts  to  move  in  the  erect  atti- 
tude. It  does  not  walk,  however,  but  progresses 
by  a  series  of  jumps,  its  arms  being  held  erect, 
as  if  for  balancing. 

Of  the  apes,  though  many  can  stand  upright, 
the  gibbon  is  the  only  one  that  attempts  to  walk 
in  this  position.  This  is  a  true  walk,  though  not  a 
very  graceful  one.  The  animal  maintains  a  fairly 
upright  posture,  but  walks  with  a  waddling  motion, 
its  body  rocking  from  side  to  side.     Its  soles  are 

54 


THE  FREEDOM  OF   THE  ARMS  55 

placed  flat  on  the  ground,  with  the  great  toes  spread 
outward.  Its  arms  either  hang  loosely  by  its  side, 
are  crossed  over  its  head,  or  are  held  aloft,  sway- 
ing like  balancing  poles  and  ready  to  seize  any 
overhead  support.  Its  walk  is  quickly  changed  to 
a  different  motion  if  any  occasion  for  haste  arises. 
At  once  its  long  arms  are  dropped  to  the  ground, 
the  knuckles  closed,  and  it  progresses  by  a  swing- 
ing or  leaping  motion,  the  body  remaining  nearly 
erect,  but  being  swung  between  the  arms. 

None  of  the  other  anthropoid  apes  ever  walk 
erect,  though  they  assume  at  times  the  upright 
posture.  But  though  they  use  all  their  Hmbs  as 
walking  organs,  they  show  no  tendency  to  revert 
to  the  habit  of  the  quadrupeds.  Their  motion  is 
like  that  of  the  gibbon  when  in  haste,  a  series  of 
jumps  or  swings  between  the  supporting  arms. 
The  shortness  of  their  arms,  however,  prevents 
them  from  standing  erect,  hke  the  gibbon,  in  doing 
this;  and  they  bend  forward  to  a  degree  depending 
on  the  length  of  their  arms,  the  chimpanzee  the 
most,  the  orang  the  least. 

As  a  rule,  the  flat  sole  of  the  foot  is  set  on  the 
ground,  with  the  toes  extended,  as  in  man,  but  the 
toes  are  sometimes  doubled  under  in  walking. 
The  orang  rarely  touches  the  ground  with  the  sole 
or  the  closed  toes,  but  walks  on  the  outer  edge  of 
the  foot,  the  feet  being  bent  inward  as  if  clasping 
the  rounded  sides  of  a  bough.  The  other  species 
have  a  tendency  in  the  same  direction,  the  legs 


56  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

being  bowed  and  the  gait  rolling.  In  using  the 
hands  in  walking,  the  closed  knuckles  are  usually 
placed  on  the  ground,  though  occasionally  the 
open  palm  is  employed.  The  whole  movement  of 
these  animals  is  strikingly  awkward,  and  goes  to 
indicate  that  there  can  be  no  satisfactory  compro- 
mise between  life  in  the  tree  and  on  the  ground. 

The  significant  fact  in  these  attempts  to  walk 
is  that  none  of  the  anthropoid  apes  show  any  in- 
clination to  revert  to  the  quadruped  habit.  Their 
attitude  is  in  all  cases  an  approach  toward  the 
erect  one,  which  posture  is  attained  by  the  gibbon. 
The  arms  are  used  not  as  walking  but  as  swinging 
organs.  Evidently  their  mode  of  life  in  the  trees 
has  overcome  all  tendency  toward  the  quadruped 
motion  in  these  apes  and  developed  a  tendency 
toward  the  biped.  But  none  of  them  have  gained 
the  muscular  development  of  the  leg  known  as  the 
calf,  nor  an  adjustment  of  the  joints  to  the  erect 
attitude,  since  none  but  the  gibbon  walks  erect, 
and  it  does  so  only  at  occasional  intervals. 

The  conclusion  to  be  derived  from  all  this  is  that 
the  man-ape  was  in  its  early  days  much  more  truly 
a  biped  than  are  any  of  the  species  named.  Like 
them,  it  had  no  tendency  to  revert  to  the  quadruped 
habit.  The  shortness  of  its  arms  was  unsuited  to 
this,  while  rendering  it  impossible  for  the  animal  to 
progress  in  the  semi-erect,  swinging  fashion  of  the 
other  anthropoid  apes.  As  a  result  of  its  bodily 
formation,  it  may  have  begun  to  walk  erect  at  a 


THE  FREEDOM   OF   THE  ARMS  57 

very  remote  date,  with  a  consequent  straightening 
of  the  joints  and  muscular  development  of  the  legs. 
When  this  condition  was  fully  attained,  it  was  prac- 
tically a  man  in  physical  conformation,  though 
mentally  still  an  ape,  and  with  a  long  develop- 
ment of  the  brain  to  pass  through  before  it  could 
reach  the  human  level  of  mind. 

The  far-reaching  conclusions  here  reached  are 
all  based  on  one  important  fact,  the  shortness  of 
man's  arms  as  compared  with  the  disproportionate 
length  of  arm  in  the  anthropoid  apes.  This,  for 
the  reasons  given,  rendered  the  adaptation  of  the 
man-ape  to  life  in  the  trees  inferior  to  that  of  the 
long-armed  apes ;  while,  as  has  just  been  said,  it 
unfitted  it  to  walk  on  the  ground  either  as  a  quad- 
ruped or  in  the  jumping  method  of  its  fellow 
anthropoids.  In  short,  the  biped  attitude  was 
much  the  best  suited  to  its  organization  and  the 
one  it  was  most  likely  to  assume.  This  once 
adopted  as  its  habitual  posture,  efficiency  in  walk- 
ing would  be  gained  by  practice. 

When  once  this  animal  became  a  ground  walker, 
its  facility  of  motion  in  the  trees  was  in  a  measure 
lost.  When  the  feet  became  accustomed  to  the 
flat  surface  of  the  ground,  they  became  less  capa- 
ble of  grasping  the  rounded  surface  of  the  bough. 
Fitness  to  the  one  situation  entailed  loss  of  fitness 
to  the  other.  The  feet  of  the  apes  can  clasp  the 
bough  firmly,  by  curving  around  its  opposite  slop- 
ing sides,  and  to  this  these  animals  doubtless  owe 


58  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

their  bowed  legs  and  their  disposition  to  walk  on  the 
outer  edge  of  the  foot.  This  disposition  the  man- 
ape  lost  as  its  foot  fitted  itself  to  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  It  was  probably  retained  in  a  measure 
by  the  young,  after  it  had  been  lost  by  the  mature 
form,  and  is  still  manifested  in  the  position  of  the 
foot  in  the  human  embryo. 

These  considerations  bring  us  to  an  important 
question :  Why  did  the  man-ape  gain  a  length  of 
arm  not  the  best  suited  to  its  arboreal  habitat.? 
Why,  in  fact,  do  changes  in  physical  structure  ever 
take  place  }  How  does  an  animal  succeed  in  pass- 
ing from  one  mode  of  life  to  another,  when  during 
the  transition  period  it  is  imperfectly  adapted  to 
either,  and  therefore  at  a  seeming  disadvantage  in 
the  struggle  for  existence  t  The  study  of  animal 
development  has  given  rise  to  certain  difficult 
problems  of  this  character,  some  of  which  have 
been  solved  by  showing  that  the  supposed  dis- 
advantage did  not  arise,  or  that  it  was  balanced 
by  some  equal  advantage.  In  this  way  a  consider- 
able gap  in  life  conditions  has  perhaps  occasionally 
been  crossed.  Small  gaps  have  doubtless  been  fre- 
quently passed  over  in  the  same  manner. 

In  the  case  of  the  anthropoid  apes,  we  perceive 
a  considerable  variation  in  the  length  of  the  arms, 
from  the  very  long  arms  of  the  gibbon  to  the 
comparatively  short  ones  of  the  chimpanzee. 
These  differences  are  probably  the  result  of  some 
difference  in  their  life  habits,  and  accord  with  the 


THE  FREEDOM   OF  THE  ARMS  59 

possibility  of  a  still  shorter  arm  in  the  man-ape. 
There  is,  however,  some  reason  to  believe,  as  we 
shall  show  later  on,  that  the  arm  of  this  animal 
was  longer  and  the  leg  shorter  than  in  man  him- 
self, their  comparative  length  perhaps  not  differ- 
ing greatly  from  that  of  the  chimpanzee.  Aside 
from  all  other  considerations,  the  use  of  the  legs 
as  the  sole  organs  of  locomotion  could  not  well 
fail  to  produce  this  result,  the  legs  growing  longer 
and  stronger  in  consequence  of  the  increased  duty 
laid  upon  them,  and  the  arms  growing  shorter  and 
weaker  through  their  release  from  duty  in  loco- 
motion. The  case  does  not  differ  in  character 
from  those  of  the  dinosauria  and  the  kangaroos,  in 
both  of  which  instances  a  release  of  the  arms  from 
duty  in  walking  was  followed  by  a  considerable 
decrease  in  length  and  strength,  while  the  legs 
grew  proportionally  stronger. 

If  any  disadvantage  attended  the  shortening  of 
the  arms  of  the  man-ape,  to  the  extent  that  this 
may  have  taken  place  in  the  tree,  it  was  probably 
correlated  with  some  advantage.  In  the  various 
instances  of  short-armed  animals  cited  this  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  case,  and  it  was  probably 
so  in  man's  ancestral  form.  While  the  hands  con- 
tinued useful  in  grasping  and  enabling  the  animal 
to  maintain  its  place  on  the  boughs,  they  may 
have  been  gradually  diverted  to  some  other  service, 
with  the  result  that  the  animal  found  the  tree  less 
desirable  than  before  as  a  place  of  residence  and 


60  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

sought  the  ground  instead.  This  would  be  particu- 
larly the  case  if  the  new  duty  was  one  best  exercised 
upon  the  ground. 

Shall  we  offer  a  suggestion  as  to  this  new  use? 
Such  changes  are  usually  the  result  of  some  change 
of  habit  in  the  animal,  frequently  one  that  has  to 
do  with  its  food.  Change  of  diet  or  of  the  mode 
of  obtaining  food  is  the  most  potent  influencing 
cause  of  change  of  habit  in  animals,  and  the  one 
that  first  calls  for  consideration. 

The  apes  are  frugivorous  animals,  though  not 
exclusively  so.  Carnivorous  tendencies  are  dis- 
played by  many  of  them.  They  rob  birds'  nests 
of  their  eggs  and  young,  they  capture  and  devour 
snakes  and  other  small  animals.  In  zoological 
gardens  monkeys  are  often  observed  to  catch  and 
eat  mice.  It  is  evident  that  many  of  them  might 
readily  become  carnivorous  to  a  large  extent  under 
suitable  conditions.  The  large  apes  are  usually 
frugivorous,  but  some  of  them  eat  animal  food. 
This  is  the  case  with  both  the  chimpanzee  and  the 
gorilla.  The  latter,  while  living  usually  on  fruit 
and  often  making  havoc  in  the  sugar-cane  planta- 
tions and  rice-fields  of  the  natives,  also  eats  birds 
and  their  eggs,  small  mammals  and  reptiles,  and 
is  said  to  devour  large  animals  when  found  dead, 
though  it  does  not  attempt  to  kill  them  for  food. 
The  young  gorilla  which  was  kept  in  captivity  at 
Berlin  became  quite  omnivorous  in  its  diet. 

With  all  this  readiness  to  eat  animal  food,  none 


THE   FREEDOM  OF   THE  ARMS  6 1 

uf  the  existing  apes  are  carnivorous  to  any  large 
extent,  but  the  fact  of  this  incHnation  makes  it 
not  improbable  that  some  of  the  apes  of  the  past 
may  have  been  much  more  so.  It  is  quite  within 
the  limits  of  probability,  for  instance,  that  the  man- 
ape  at  an  early  date  became  omnivorous  in  its  diet. 
Its  change  in  structure  may  well  have  been  the 
result  of  a  decided  change  in  diet,  such  as  that 
from  fruit  to  flesh  food.  Such  a  radical  change 
as  that  from  vegetable  to  animal  food  would  cer- 
tainly demand  a  more  active  employment  of  the 
arms  as  agents  in  capture.  Fruits  and  nuts  wait 
to  be  pulled ;  animals  must  be  caught  before  they 
can  be  eaten.  The  former  is  an  easy  matter  to  an 
arboreal  animal ;  the  latter  might  prove  a  difficult 
one,  especially  if  large  animals  were  to  be  captured. 
In  short,  the  pursuit  and  capture  of  any  of  the 
larger  animals  for  prey  could  not  fail  to  modify  to  a 
great  degree  the  use  of  the  arms.  Their  employ- 
ment in  locomotion  would  interfere  seriously  with 
their  utiHty  in  this  direction.  To  succeed  in  captur- 
ing nimble  prey  by  an  animal  with  the  ape  form  of 
hands  a  considerable  freedom  of  the  arms  would  be 
necessary,  and  the  feet  would  have  to  be  mainly,  if 
not  wholly,  depended  upon  for  motion.  The  ape  has 
not  the  sharp  claws  of  the  carnivora  with  which  to 
seize  and  hold  its  prey.  It  must  have  been  obliged 
to  use  its  palms  for  this  purpose,  and  this  it  could 
not  well  have  done  unless  they  were  free  in  their 
action. 


• 


62  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

It  is  conceivable,  indeed,  that  the  man-ape  may 
have  run  down  its  prey,  or  sprung  upon  it  from 
covert,  and  seized  it  with  the  hands,  but  there  is 
good  reason  to  beheve  that  this  was  not  its  mode 
of  capture.  The  organization  of  the  ape  tribe 
gives  it  a  characteristic  action  which  is  not  to  be 
found  in  any  other  group  of  the  vast  animal  king- 
dom, that  of  handling  and  throwing  missiles.  In 
this  it  necessarily  stands  alone,  since  no  other  ani- 
mal has  a  grasping  palm.  The  power  is  one  of 
prime  importance,  for  without  it  we  cannot  per- 
ceive how  man  could  ever  have  emerged  from  the 
general  animal  kingdom.  The  use  of  missiles  is  by 
no  means  uncommon  with  the  monkeys.  We  can- 
not safely  accept  the  story  that  American  monkeys 
will  throw  cocoanuts  from  tree-tops  at  those  who 
hurl  stones  at  them  from  below,  from  the  fact  that 
the  cocoanut  seems  too  heavy  and  too  firmly  fixed 
to  its  support  for  the  strength  of  those  small  species, 
but  it  is  not  uncommon  for  them  to  throw  lighter 
objects.  Yet  in  doing  this  they  usually  seem  to 
have  no  idea  of  aim,  but  toss  the  missile  aimlessly 
into  the  air.  Of  the  large  apes,  the  orang  will 
break  off  branches  and  fling  them  at  its  tormen- 
tors, or  will  throw  the  thick  husks  of  the  durian 
fruit,  but  with  similar  lack  of  aim.  The  most  skilful 
in  this  exercise  are  some  species  of  baboons,  which 
can  hurl  branches,  stones,  or  hard  clods  with  much 
dexterity. 

It  is  of   interest   to  find  existing  apes  availing 


THE  FREEDOM   OF   THE  ARMS  63 

themselves  of  their  grasping  power  in  this  manner, 
since  it  leads  us  irresistibly  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  man-ape  may  have  done  the  same  thing.  The 
species  which  use  missiles  fail  to  take  aim  for  two 
reasons,  one  that  they  employ  them  only  occasion- 
ally, often  in  imitation  of  human  action,  the  other 
that  their  arms  are  ill  suited  to  this  motion  from 
their  constant  employment  in  another  duty.  In  the 
case  of  the  man-ape  we  may  justly  look  for  a  more 
effective  result,  since  if  the  arms  became  relieved 
from  duty  in  locomotion  they  were  free  to  gain 
facility  of  action  in  other  directions. 

If  in  addition  to  this  the  man-ape  began  to  use 
missiles  with  a  definite  purpose  in  view,  that  of 
striking  down  animal  prey,  so  that  the  use  of  such 
weapons  became  habitual  instead  of  occasional,  it 
would  soon  gain  some  power  of  aim  and  a  growing 
strength  and  skill  in  the  throwing  motion.  It  is 
quite  probable,  also,  that  an  early  use  of  weapons 
was  in  the  form  of  clubs,  which  were  retained  in 
the  grasp  to  strike  down  the  prey  when  overtaken. 
In  this  case,  we  may  imagine  our  primitive  biped 
running  swiftly  after  its  prey,  club  in  hand,  strik- 
ing at  it  when  within  reach ;  or,  if  it  should  prove 
too  swift,  hurling  the  club  or  a  stone  through  the 
air  with  the  hope  of  bringing  it  down  in  this 
manner.  Such  a  flinging  action,  if  now  and  then 
successful,  would  be  likely  soon  to  become  habitual ; 
while  the  arm  would  grow  accustomed  to  this  new 
motion,  and  attain  skill  in  taking  aim.     We  may 


64  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

reasonably  infer,  also,  that  the  club  would  be  used 
for  defence  as  well  as  for  offence,  in  case  the  man- 
ape  were  in  its  turn  pursued  by  larger  animals. 
Instead  of  fleeing  to  the  nearest  tree,  it  might  now 
stand  its  ground  and  beat  off  its  enemy. 

All  must  admit  the  probability,  in  a  large  tribe 
of  animals  with  grasping  power  in  their  hands,  and 
in  the  habit  of  using  missiles  occasionally,  of  onel 
or  more  species  coming  to  use  them  habitually. 
All  the  anthropoid  apes  are  certainly  intelHgent 
enough  to  do  this,  if  it  should  prove  advantageous 
to  them.  Its  principal  advantage,  however,  would 
seem  to  be  to  a  species  that  became  largely  carniv- 
orous and  needed  to  capture  running  or  flying 
prey. 

The  habit  of  using  implements  is  one  of  supreme 
importance  in  animal  evolution.  To  it  we  owe 
man  as  he  exists  to-day.  While  animals  confined 
themselves  to  their  natural  weapons  of  teeth  and 
claws,  their  development  must  have  remained  a 
very  slow  one  and  been  confined  within  narrow 
limits.  When  they  once  began  to  add  to  their 
natural  powers  those  of  surrounding  nature,  by  the 
use  of  artificial  weapons,  the  first  step  in  a  new  and 
illimitable  range  of  evolution  was  taken.  From 
that  day  to  this,  man  has  been  occupied  in  unfold- 
ing this  method,  and  has  advanced  enormously 
beyond  his  primal  state.  A  crude  and  simple  use 
of  weapons  gave  him,  in  time,  supremacy  over  all 
the  lower  animals.     An  advanced  use  of  weapons 


THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  ARMS  65 

and  tools  has  given  him,  in  a  measure,  supremacy 
over  nature  herself,  and  raised  him  to  a  stage 
almost  infinitely  beyond  that  of  the  animal  which 
trusts  solely  to  teeth  and  claws. 

So  far  as  we  know,  only  one  of  the  innumerable 
species  of  animals  attained  this  development;  un- 
less, indeed,  the  various  races  of  men  had  more 
than  one  ape  ancestor.  For  the  appearance  of  man 
there  became  necessary,  first,  the  development  of 
an  order  of  animals  with  power  of  grasp  in  their 
hands ;  and,  second,  the  development  of  one  or 
more  biped  species,  with  hands  freed  from  duty 
as  walking  organs  and  capable  of  use  in  other 
directions.  A  third  necessity  was  very  probably 
the  exchange  of  the  f rugivorous  for  the  carnivorous 
habit,  which  would  act  as  a  predisposing  agency 
in  inducing  the  animal  to  desert  the  tree  for  the 
ground,  and  to  employ  weapons  in  the  chase.  The 
final  result  of  all  this  would  be  an  erect,  walking, 
and  running  animal,  with  arms  and  hands  quite 
free  from  their  old  duty,  except  during  an  occa- 
sional return  to  the  tree,  and  with  the  necessary 
straightening  of  joints  and  development  of  sup- 
porting muscles. 

What  has  been  advanced  above  is,  no  doubt, 
largely  a  series  of  assumptions  and  conjectures, 
few  of  which  are  sustained  by  known  facts.  But  as 
the  matter  stands,  no  other  method  of  dealing  with 
it  can  be  adopted,  since  the  facts  in  the  case  have 
in  great  part  vanished.     What  we  know  positively 


66  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

is  that  man  exists,  and  that  in  physical  structure 
he  is  very  closely  related  to  the  anthropoid  apes. 
What  we  have  excellent  reason  to  feel  assured  of 
is  that  man  has  descended  from  the  lower  animals, 
and  in  all  probability  from  an  ape-Hke  ancestor. 
We  know  that  one  or  more  species  of  anthropoid 
apes  have  become  extinct,  and  can  reasonably  con- 
jecture that  one  ancient  species  became  modified 
into  the  form  of  man.  We  know  that  human 
remains  have  been  found  that,  to  some  small  extent, 
fill  the  gap  between  man  and  the  ape.  Correlative 
evidence  exists  in  the  variations  in  length  of 
limb  in  the  existing  anthropoids,  their  efforts  to 
walk  upright,  their  varied  degree  of  dependence 
upon  the  arms  for  locomotion,  and  the  occasional 
use  of  missiles  by  these  and  lower  forms.  To 
these  may  be  added  the  carnivorous  tastes  shown 
by  many  members  of  the  ape  family,  with  the  indi- 
cation that  more  decided  carnivorous  habits  might 
readily  be  assumed. 

Taking  the  stand  that  such  a  partly  carnivorous 
anthropoid  ape,  biped  in  structure,  appeared  and 
made  the  ground  its  usual  place  of  residence,  we 
find  ourselves  on  the  direct  trail  of  man.  Long 
ago  as  this  may  have  been,  and  far  and  difficult 
as  was  the  journey  to  be  made,  the  way  was 
thenceforth  straight  and  well-defined.  Such  an 
animal,  living  largely  on  animal  food,  and  using 
weapons  superior  to  its  natural  ones  in  the  capture 
of  prey,  was  essentially  a  man,  however  low  may 


THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  ARMS  67 

still  have  been  its  level  of  intelligence.  Its  feet 
were  firmly  fixed  upon  the  upward  track,  and  only- 
time  and  stress  of  circumstance  were  needed  to 
carry  it  upward  to  the  high  level  of  civilized  man. 
We  may,  indeed,  go  further  than  this.  We  are 
in  a  measure  justified  in  saying  what  this  man-ape 
was  like,  this  creature  which  had  left  its  early 
home  in  the  trees  and  began  to  walk  upright  upon 
the  earth,  pursuing  the  larger  animals  and  captur- 
ing them  for  food.  It  was  probably  much  smaller 
than  existing  man,  little  if  any  more  than  four  feet 
in  height  and  not  more  than  half  the  weight  of 
man.  Its  body  was  covered,  though  not  profusely, 
with  hair,  the  hair  of  the  head  being  woolly  or 
frizzly  in  texture,  and  the  face  provided  with  a 
beard.  The  complexion  was  not  jet  black,  like 
the  typical  negro,  but  of  a  dull  brown  hue,  the 
hair  being  somewhat  similar  in  color.  The  arms 
were  lank  and  rather  long,  the  back  much  curved, 
the  chest  flat  and  narrow,  the  abdomen  protruding, 
the  legs  rather,  short  and  bowed,  the  walk  a  wad- 
dling motion,  somewhat  like  that  of  the  gibbon. 
It  had  small,  deep-set  eyes,  greatly  protruding 
mouth  with  gaping  lips,  huge  ears,  and  in  general 
a  very  ape-like  aspect.  Our  warrant  for  this  de- 
scription of  man's  ancestor  must  be  left  for  a  later 
portion  of  our  work.  We  shall  only  say  here  that 
it  is  based  on  known  fact,  not  on  fancy. 


VI 

THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   INTELLIGENCE 

The  full  adoption  of  the  erect  attitude  gave  the 
ancestor  of  man  an  immense  motor  supremacy 
over  the  lower  animals,  for  it  completely  released 
his  fore  limbs  from  duty  as  organs  of  support  and 
set  them  free  for  new  and  superior  purposes.  In 
all  the  animal  kingdom  below  man  there  exists 
but  a  single  form  that  emulates  him  in  this  posses- 
sion of  a  grasping  organ  which  takes  no  part  in 
walking  or  in  other  modes  of  locomotion.  This 
is  the  elephant,  whose  nose  and  upper  lip  have 
developed  into  an  enormous  and  highly  flexible 
trunk,  with  delicate  grasping  powers.  The  pos- 
session of  this  organ  may  have  had  much  to  do 
with  the  intellectual  acumen  of  the  elephant.  Yet 
it  is  far  inferior  in  its  powers  to  the  arm  and 
hand  of  man  ;  while  the  form,  size,  and  food  of 
the  elephant  stand  in  the  way  of  the  progress 
which  might  have  been  made  by  an  animal  pos- 
sessed of  such  an  organ  in  connection  with  a  better 
suited  bodily  structure. 

For  a  period  of  many  millions  of  years  the 
world  of  vertebrate  life  continued  quadrupedal,  or 
where  a  variation  from  this  structure  took  place 

68 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  INTELLIGENCE      69 

the  fore  limbs  remained  to  a  large  extent  organs  of 
locomotion.  Finally  a  true  biped  appeared.  For 
a  period  of  equal  duration  the  mental  progress  of 
animals  was  exceedingly  slow.  Then,  with  almost 
startling  suddenness,  a  highly  intellectual  animal 
appeared.  Thus  the  coming  of  man  indicated,  in 
two  directions,  an  extraordinary  deviation  from  the 
ordinary  course  of  animal  development.  Both 
physically  and  mentally  evolution  seemed  to  take 
an  enormous  leap,  instead  of  proceeding  by  its 
usual  minute  steps,  and  in  the  advent  of  man  we 
have  a  phenomenon  remarkable  alike  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  body  and  the  mind. 

So  far  our  attention  has  been  directed  to  the 
evolution  of  the  human  body,  now  we  must  con- 
sider that  of  the  human  mind.  In  seeking  through 
the  animal  kingdom  for  the  probable  ancestor  of 
man  in  his  bodily  aspect,  we  were  drawn  irre- 
sistibly to  the  ape  tribe,  as  the  only  one  that  made 
any  near  approach  to  him  in  structure.  In  con- 
sidering the  case  from  the  point  of  view  of  mental 
development  we  find  a  similar  irresistible  drawing 
toward  the  apes,  as  the  most  spontaneously  intelli- 
gent of  the  mammalia.  While  many  of  the  lower 
animals  are  capable  of  being  taught,  the  ape 
stands  nearly  alone  in  the  power  of  thinking  for 
itself,  the  characteristic  of  self-education. 

Innumerable  testimonials  could  be  quoted  from 
observers  in  evidence  of  the  superior  mental  pow- 
ers of   the  apes.     Hartmann    says  of   them   that 


70  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

"their  intelligence  sets  them  high  above  other 
mammals,"  and  Romanes  that  they  ''  certainly  sur- 
pass all  other  animals  in  the  scope  of  their  rational 
faculty."  It  is  scarcely  necessary  here  to  give 
extended  examples  of  ape  intelligence.  Hundreds 
of  instances  are  on  record,  many  of  them  showing 
remarkable  powers  of  reasoning  for  one  of  the 
lower  animals.  The  ape,  it  is  true,  is  not  alone 
in  its  teachableness.  Nearly  all  the  domestic  ani- 
mals can  be  taught,  the  dog  and  the  elephant  to 
a  considerable  degree.  And  evidences  of  reason- 
ing out  some  subject  for  themselves  now  and  then 
appear  in  the  domesticated  species ;  but  these  are 
rare  instances,  not  frequent  acts  as  in  the  case  of 
the  apes. 

The  apes,  indeed,  rarely  need  teaching.  They 
observe  and  imitate  to  an  extent  far  beyond  that 
displayed  by  any  others  of  the  lower  animals,  and 
the  more  remarkable  from  the  fact  that  in  nearly 
every  instance  the  animals  concerned  began  life 
in  the  wild  state,  and  had  none  of  the  advantages 
of  hereditary  influence  possessed  by  the  domesti- 
cated dog  and  horse.  Among  the  most  interesting 
examples  of  spontaneous  acts  of  intelligence  of  the 
ape  tribe  are  those  related  by  Romanes,  in  his 
"  Animal  Intelligence,"  of  the  doings  of  a  cebus 
monkey,  which  he  kept  for  several  months  under 
close  observation  in  his  own  house.  Instead  of 
selecting  general  examples  of  ape  actions,  we  may 
cite  some  of  the  doings  of  this  intelligent  creature. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE      /I 

The  cebus  did  not  wait  to  be  shown  how  to  do 
things,  but  was  an  adept  in  devising  ways  to  do 
them  himself.  He  had  the  monkey  love  of  mis- 
chief well  developed,  and  not  much  that  was 
breakable  came  whole  from  his  hands.  When  he 
could  not  break  an  ^gg  cup  by  dashing  it  to  the 
ground,  he  hammered  it  on  the  post  of  a  brass 
bedstead  until  it  was  in  fragments.  In  breaking 
a  stick,  he  would  pass  it  down  between  a  heavy 
object  and  the  wall,  and  break  it  by  hanging  on 
its  end.  In  destroying  an  article  of  dress,  he  would 
begin  by  carefully  pulling  out  the  threads,  and 
afterward  tear  it  to  pieces  with  his  teeth.  His 
nuts  he  broke  with  a  hammer  precisely  as  a 
man  would  have  done  and  without  being  shown 
its  use.  Ridicule  was  not  pleasant  to  him ;  he 
strongly  resented  being  laughed  at,  and  would 
throw  anything  within  reach  at  his  tormentor  and 
with  a  skill  and  force  not  usual  with  monkeys. 
Taking  the  missile  in  both  hands  and  standing 
erect,  he  would  extend  his  long  arms  behind  his 
back  and  hurl  the  article  by  bringing  them  forcibly 
forward. 

If  any  object  he  wanted  was  too  far  away  to 
reach,  he  would  draw  it  toward  him  with  a  stick. 
Failing  in  this,  he  was  observed  to  throw  a  shawl 
back  over  his  head,  and  then  fling  it  forward  with 
all  his  strength,  holding  it  by  two  corners.  When 
it  fell  over  the  object,  he  brought  this  within  reach 
by  drawing  in  the  shawl.     In  his  gyrations,    the 


72  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

chain  by  which  he  was  fastened  often  became 
twisted  around  some  object.  He  would  now  exam- 
ine it  intently,  pulling  it  in  opposite  ways  with  his 
fingers  until  he  had  discovered  how  the  turns  ran. 
This  done,  he  would  carefully  reverse  his  motions 
until  the  chain  was  quite  disentangled. 

The  most  striking  act  of  intelligence  told  of  this 
creature  was  his  dealings  with  a  hearth-brush  which 
fell  into  his  hands,  and  of  which  the  handle  screwed 
into  the  brush.  It  took  him  no  long  time  to  find 
out  how  to  unscrew  the  handle.  When  this  was 
achieved,  he  at  once  began  to  try  and  screw  it  in 
again.  In  doing  so  he  showed  great  ingenuity. 
At  first  he  put  the  wrong  end  of  the  handle  into 
the  hole,  and  turned  it  round  and  round  in  the 
right  direction  for  screwing.  Finding  this  would 
not  work,  he  took  it  out  and  tried  the  other  end, 
always  turning  in  the  right  direction.  It  was  a 
difficult  feat  to  perform,  as  he  had  to  turn  the 
screw  with  both  hands,  while  the  flexible  bristles 
of  the  brush  prevented  it  from  remaining  steady. 
To  aid  his  operations  he  now  held  the  brush  with 
one  foot,  while  turning  with  both  hands.  It  was 
still  difficult  to  make  the  first  turn  of  the  screw, 
but  he  worked  on  with  untiring  perseverance  until 
he  got  the  thread  to  catch,  and  then  screwed  it  in 
to  the  end.  The  remarkable  thing  was  that  he 
never  tried  to  turn  the  handle  in  the  wrong  direc- 
tion, but  always  screwed  it  from  left  to  right,  as  if 
he  knew  that  he  must  reverse  the  original  motion. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       73 

The  feat  accomplished,  he  repeated  it,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  so  until  he  could  perform  it  easily. 
Then  he  threw  the  brush  aside,  apparently  taking 
no  more  interest  in  that  over  which  he  had  worked 
so  persistently.  No  man  could  have  devoted  him- 
self more  earnestly  to  learn  some  new  art,  and 
become  more  indifferent  to  it  when  once  learned. 
These  are  a  few  only  of  the  many  acts  of  intelli- 
gence observed  by  Mr.  Romanes  in  the  doings  of 
this  animal.  They  will  suffice  as  examples  of 
what  we  mean  by  spontaneous  intelligence.  The 
cebus  did  not  need  to  be  shown  how  to  do  things; 
it  worked  them  out  for  itself  much  as  a  man  would 
have  done,  performing  acts  of  an  intricacy  far 
beyond  any  ever  observed  in  other  classes  of  ani- 
mals in  captivity.  It  may  be  said  further  that 
the  displays  of  spontaneous  intelligence  shown  by 
dogs,  cats,  and  similar  animals  have  usually  been 
intended  in  some  way  for  the  advantage  of  the  ani- 
mal; few  or  none  are  on  record  which  indicate  a 
mere  desire  to  know  without  ulterior  advantage; 
no  persevering  effort,  like  that  with  the  brush, 
which  is  purely  an  instance  of  self-instruction. 

Examples  of  intelligence  of  this  advanced  char- 
acter could  be  cited  from  observation  of  monkeys 
of  various  species.  The  anthropoid  apes  have  not 
been  brought  to  any  large  extent  under  observa- 
tion, but  are  notable  for  their  intelligence  in  cap- 
tivity. It  is  not  easy  to  observe  them  in  a  state 
of  nature,  and  nearly  all  we  know  is  that  the  orang 


74  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

makes  itself  a  nightly  bed  of  branches  broken  off 
and  carefully  laid  together,  and  is  said  to  cover 
itself  in  bed  with  large  leaves,  if  the  weather  is 
wet.  The  chimpanzee  has  a  similar  habit,  and 
the  gorilla  is  said  to  build  itself  a  nest  in  which 
the  female  and  the  young  sleep,  the  old  male  rest- 
ing at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  on  guard  against  their 
dangerous  foe,  the  leopard. 

It  is  the  young  animals  of  these  species  which 
are  the  most  social  and  docile  and  most  approach 
man  in  appearance.  As  they  grow  older,  their 
specific  characters  become  more  marked.  Fierce 
and  sullen  as  is  the  old  gorilla,  the  young  of  this 
species  is  playful  and  affectionate  in  captivity  and 
is  given  to  mischievous  tricks.  The  one  that  was 
kept  for  a  time  in  Berlin  showed  much  good-nature, 
playfulness,  and  intelligence,  and  some  degree  of 
monkey  mischievousness.  It  was  very  cunning  in 
carrying  out  its  plans,  particularly  in  stealing  sugar, 
of  which  it  was  very  fond. 

The  chief  examples  of  anthropoid  intelligence 
are  told  of  the  chimpanzee,  which  has  been  most 
frequently  kept  in  captivity.  It  is  usually  lively 
and  good-tempered  and  is  very  teachable.  Some  of 
the  stories  of  its  intelligence  may  be  apocryphal,  as 
those  told  by  Captain  Grandpre  of  a  chimpanzee 
which  performed  all  the  duties  of  a  sailor  on  board 
ship,  and  of  one  that  would  heat  the  oven  for  a 
baker  and  inform  him  when  it  was  of  the  right 
temperature.     But  there  are  authenticated  stories 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       75 

of  chimpanzee  intelligence  which  give  it  a  high 
standing  in  this  respect  among  the  lower  animals. 

The  emotional  nature  of  the  ape  is  also  highly 
developed.  It  displays  an  affection  equal  to  that 
of  the  dog,  and  a  sympathy  surpassing  that  of  any 
other  animal  below  man.  The  feeling  displayed 
by  monkeys  for  others  of  their  kind  in  pain  is  of 
the  most  affecting  nature,  and  Brehm  relates  that 
in  the  monkeys  of  certain  species  kept  under  con- 
finement by  him  in  Africa,  the  grief  of  the  females 
for  the  loss  of  their  young  was  so  intense  as  to 
cause  their  death.  More  than  once  an  ardent 
hunter  has  seen  such  examples  of  tender  solicitude 
among  monkeys  for  the  wounded  and  of  grief  for 
the  dead  as  to  resolve  never  to  fire  at  one  of  the 
race  again. 

James  Forbes,  in  his  "  Oriental  Memoirs,"  relates 
a  striking  instance  of  this  kind.  One  of  a  shooting 
party  had  killed  a  female  monkey  in  a  banian  tree, 
and  carried  it  to  his  tent.  Forty  or  fifty  of  the 
tribe  soon  gathered  around  the  tent,  chattering 
furiously  and  threatening  an  attack,  from  which 
they  were  only  diverted  by  the  display  of  the 
fowling-piece,  whose  effects  they  seemed  perfectly 
to  understand.  But  while  the  others  retreated,  the 
leader  of  the  troop  stood  his  ground,  continuing  his 
threatening  chatter.  Finding  this  of  no  avail,  he 
came  to  the  door  of  the  tent,  moaning  sadly,  and 
by  his  gestures  seeming  to  beg  for  the  dead  body. 
When  it  was  given,  he  took  it  sorrowfully  up  in  his 


'J^  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

arms  and  carried  it  away  to  the  waiting  troop.  That 
hunter  never  shot  a  monkey  again. 

This  deep  feehng  for  the  dead  is  probably  not 
common  among  monkeys.  The  gibbon,  for  instance, 
is  said  to  take  no  notice  of  the  dead.  It  is,  however, 
highly  sympathetic  to  injured  and  sick  companions, 
and  this  feeling  seems  common  to  all  the  apes. 
No  human  being  could  show  more  tender  care  of 
wounded  or  helpless  companions  than  has  often 
been  seen  in  members  of  this  affectionate  tribe  of 
animals. 

Without  giving  further  examples  of  the  intelli- 
gence and  sympathy  of  the  apes,  we  may  say  that 
they  possess  in  a  marked  degree  the  mental  powers 
to  which  man  owes  so  much,  viz.  observation  and 
imitation.  The  ape  is  the  most  curious  of  the 
lower  animals  —  that  is,  it  possesses  the  faculty 
of  observation  in  an  unusual  degree.  What  we 
call  curiosity  in  the  ape  is  the  basic  form  of  the 
characteristic  which  we  call  attention  or  observa- 
tion in  man.  Its  seeming  great  activity  in  the  ape 
is  what  might  naturally  be  expected  in  an  observant 
animal  when  removed  from  its  natural  habitat  to  a 
location  where  all  around  it  is  new  and  strange. 
Man  under  like  circumstances  is  as  curious  as  the 
ape,  while  the  latter  in  its  native  trees  probably 
finds  little  to  excite  its  special  attention.  In  both 
man  and  the  ape  it  needs  novelty  to  excite  curiosity. 

Again,  the  ape  is  imitative  in  a  high  degree. 
This  faculty  also  it  does  not  share  with  the  lower 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       yy 

animals,  but  does  with  man,  imitation  being  one 
of  the  methods  by  which  he  has  attained  his 
supremacy.  Observation,  imitation,  education,  are 
the  three  levers  in  the  development  of  the  human 
intellect.  The  first  two  of  these  the  ape  possesses 
in  a  marked  degree.  It  is  susceptible  also  to  the 
last,  being  very  teachable.  Education  certainly 
exists  to  some  extent  among  the  apes  in  their 
natural  habitat,  perhaps  to  as  great  an  extent  as 
it  did  in  primitive  man.  In  the  latter  case  it  is 
doubtful  if  there  was  much  that  could  be  called 
designed  education,  the  young  gaining  their 
degree  of  knowledge  by  observing  and  imitating 
their  elders.  The  same  is  certainly  the  case 
among  the  apes. 

We  may  reasonably  ask  what  there  is  in  the 
life  and  character  of  the  apes  to  give  them  this 
mental  superiority  over  the  remaining  lower  ani- 
mals. It  is  certainly  not  due  to  the  arboreal  life 
and  powers  of  grasp  of  these  animals,  for  in  those 
respects  they  resemble  the  lemurs,  which  are 
greatly  lacking  in  intelligence.  Whether  the  mon- 
keys emerged  from  the  lemurs  or  the  two  groups 
developed  side  by  side  is  a  question  as  yet  unsettled; 
at  all  events  they  are  closely  similar  in  conditions  of 
existence.  Yet  while  the  monkeys  are  the  most  in- 
telligent and  teachable  of  animals,  the  lemurs  are 
among  the  least  intelligent  of  the  mammalia.  There 
is  here  a  marked  distinction  which  is  evidently  not 
due  to  difference  of  structure  or  habitat,  and  must 


78  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

have  its  origin  in  some  other  characteristic,  such  as 
difference  in  life  habits. 

There  is  certainly  nothing  in  the  diet  of  the  ape 
to  develop  intelligence.  The  frugivorous  and  her- 
bivorous animals  do  not  need  cunning  and  shrewd- 
ness to  anything  like  the  extent  necessary  in 
carnivorous  animals.  They  do  not  need  to  pursue 
or  lie  in  wait  for  prey ;  and  they  escape  from  their 
enemies  mainly  through  strength,  speed,  conceal- 
ment, or  other  physical  powers  or  methods.  Es- 
cape may  occasionally  develop  mental  alertness, 
but  does  not  usually  do  so.  Certainly  if  the  alert, 
watchful,  suspicious  habits  of  the  apes  are  due  to 
the  requisite  of  avoiding  dangerous  enemies,  we 
might  naturally  look  for  similar  habits  in  the 
lemurs,  which  are  similarly  situated.  And  if  we 
consider  the  wide  distribution  of  the  apes  through- 
out the  tropics  of  both  hemispheres,  and  their  great 
diversity  in  species  and  condition,  it  seems  very 
unlikely  that  in  all  these  localities  their  relations 
with  other  animals  would  be  such  as  to  develop 
the  mental  alertness  which  they  so  generally  dis- 
play. The  fact  appears  to  be  that,  while  this  may 
be  a  cause,  it  is  not  a  leading  cause,  of  mental 
development  in  animals,  and  that  we  must  seek 
elsewhere  for  the  origin  of  animal  intelligence. 

Research,  indeed,  leads  us  to  examples  of  intel- 
ligence where  we  should  least  expect  to  find  it. 
Among  the  mammalia  we  perceive  one  marked 
example  in  the  beavers,  the  only  one  in  the  great 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       79 

class  of  the  rodents,  with  their  nine  hundred  or 
more  of  species.  But  we  must  go  still  lower,  to 
the  insects,  for  the  most  striking  examples,  finding 
them  alone  in  the  ants,  the  bees,  and  the  termites, 
among  the  vast  multitude  of  insect  forms.  Less 
marked  instances  appear  in  the  elephants,  in  some 
of  the  birds,  and  in  certain  other  gregarious  animals. 
From  these  examples,  and  what  is  elsewhere 
known  of  animal  intelligence,  one  broad  conclu- 
sion may  be  drawn,  that  all  the  strikingly  intelli- 
gent animals  are  strongly  social  in  their  habits, 
and  that  no  decided  display  of  intelligence  is  to  be 
found  among  solitary  species.  This  conclusion 
becomes  almost  a  demonstration  in  the  case  of  the 
ants  and  bees.  The  ants,  for  instance,  comprise 
hundreds  of  species,  spread  over  most  of  the 
world,  mainly  social,  but  occasionally  solitary. 
The  social  species,  while  varying  greatly  in  habit, 
all  display  powers  of  intelligence,  and  these  so 
diversified  as  to  indicate  many  separate  lines  of 
evolution.  The  solitary  ants,  on  the  contrary, 
manifest  no  special  intelligence,  and  do  not  rise 
above  the  general  insect  level.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  the  bees.  The  hive  bee,  the  most  com- 
munal in  habit,  shows  the  highest  traits  of  intelli- 
gent activity.  The  bees  which  form  smaller  groups 
and  the  social  wasps  stand  at  a  lower  level,  and  the 
solitary  bees  and  wasps  sink  to  the  ordinary  insect 
plane.  We  arrive  at  like  conclusions  from  obser- 
vation of  the  social  termites,  or  white  ants,  some 


8o  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

species  of  which  are  remarkable  for  their  intelli- 
gent cooperation  and  division  of  duties. 

Examples  similar  in  kind  may  be  drawn  from 
the  vertebrates.  Among  the  birds  there  are  none 
more  quick-witted  than  the  social  crows,  none  with 
less  display  of  intelligence  than  the  solitary  car- 
nivorous species.  Birds  are  rather  gregarious  than 
social.  There  are  few  species  whose  association 
is  above  that  of  mere  aggregation  in  flight.  Those 
more  distinctively  social  usually  have  special  habits 
which  indicate  intelligence  —  as  in  the  often  cited 
instances  of  their  seemingly  trying  and  executing 
delinquents.  Among  the  carnivorous  mammals 
the  social  dog  or  wolf  tribe  displays  the  intelligent 
habit  of  mutual  aid.  The  horses,  oxen,  deer,  and 
other  gregarious  hoofed  animals  have  a  degree  of 
division  of  duties,  but  their  intelligence  is  of  a 
lower  grade  than  that  of  the  dogs  and  the  ele- 
phants. On  the  whole,  it  may  be  affirmed  that 
the  social  habit  is  frequently  accompanied  by 
instances  of  special  intelligence  to  which  we  find 
no  counterpart  among  the  solitary  forms,  and  that 
the  highest  manifestations  of  intelligence  in  the 
lower  animals  are  found  in  those  forms  which  pos- 
sess communal  habits,  as  the  ants,  bees,  termites, 
and  beavers. 

One  important  characteristic  of  the  communal 
animals  is  that  they  become  mentally  specialized. 
They  round  up  their  powers,  build  barriers  of 
habit  over  which  they  cannot  pass,  perform  the 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       8 1 

same  acts  with  such  interminable  iteration  that 
what  began  as  intellect  sinks  back  into  instinct. 
Each  individual  has  fixed  duties  and  is  confined 
within  a  limited  circle  of  acts,  whose  scope  it  cannot 
pass,  or  only  to  the  minutest  extent. 

The  non-communal  social  animals,  on  the  con- 
trary, are  not  thus  restricted.  Their  intelligence 
is  of  a  generalized  character,  and  is  capable  of 
developing  in  new  channels.  None  are  tied  down 
to  special  duties,  each  possesses  the  full  powers 
of  all,  and  they  are  thus  more  open  to  a  continued 
growth  of  the  intellect  than  the  communal  forms. 
To  this  class  belongs  the  ape.  Its  intelligence  is 
general,  not  special ;  broadly  capable  of  develop- 
ment, not  narrowed  and  bound  in  by  the  limitation 
of  certain  fixed  and  special  duties. 

The  suggestions  above  offered  point  to  three 
grades  of  community  among  animals,  which  may 
be  designated  the  communal,  the  social,  and  the 
solitary.  Among  these  there  are,  of  course,  many 
stages  of  transition  from  one  to  the  other.  The 
specially  communal,  including  the  ants,  bees,  ter- 
mites, and  beavers,  are  those  in  which  there  is 
almost  a  total  loss  of  individuality,  each  member 
working  for  the  good  of  the  community  as  a  unit, 
not  for  its  personal  advantage.  The  result  con- 
sists in  organized  industries,  division  and  special- 
ization of  duties,  a  common  home,  food  stock,  etc. 
At  a  lower  level  in  animal  life,  that  of  the  hydroid 
polyps,  communism  has  become  so  complete  that 

G 


82  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

the  community  has  grown  into  an  actual  individual, 
the  members  not  being  free,  but  acting  as  organs 
of  an  aggregate  mass,  in  which  each  performs  some 
special  duty  for  the  good  of  the  community. 

The  social  animals  differ  from  the  communal  in 
that  the  individuality  of  the  members  is  fully  pre- 
served. There  is  some  measure  of  work  for  the 
group,  some  degree  of  mutual  aid,  some  evidence 
of  leadership  and  subordination,  but  these  are  con- 
fined to  a  few  exigencies  of  life,  while  in  most  of 
the  details  of  existence  each  member  of  the  group 
acts  for  itself.  The  solitary  animals  are  those 
which  do  not  form  groups  larger  than  that  of  the 
family,  and  into  whose  life  the  principle  of  mutual 
aid,  outside  the  immediate  family  relations,  does 
not  enter.  Each  acts  for  itself  alone,  and  inter- 
course between  the  individuals  of  the  species  is 
greatly  restricted. 

The  advantages  of  social  habits  among  animals 
are  evident.  There  is  excellent  reason  to  believe 
that  all  animals,  and  especially  such  advanced 
forms  as  the  vertebrates  and  the  higher  arthro- 
pods, have  some  power  of  mental  development, 
some  facility  in  devising  new  methods  of  action  to 
meet  new  situations.  Though  their  reasoning 
power  may  be  small,  it  is  not  quite  lacking,  and 
many  examples  of  the  exercise  of  the  faculty  of 
thought  could  be  cited  if  necessary. 

What  we  are  here  concerned  with,  is  the  final 
result    of    such    exercises   of    individual   thought 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       83 

powers.  In  the  case  of  the  solitary  forms,  such 
new  conceptions  die  with  the  individual.  Though 
they  may  exert  an  influence  on  the  development 
of  the  nervous  system,  and  aid  in  the  hereditary 
transmission  of  more  active  brain  powers,  they 
are  lost  as  special  ideas,  fail  to  be  taken  up  and 
repeated  by  other  members  of  the  species.  This 
is  not  the  case  with  the  social  animals.  Each  of 
these  has  some  faculty  of  observation  and  some 
tendency  to  imitation,  and  useful  steps  of  advance 
made  by  individuals  are  likely  to  be  observed  and 
retained  as  general  habits  of  the  community. 
Anything  of  importance  that  is  gained  may  be 
preserved  by  educative  influences.  The  facility  of 
mental  communication  between  these  creatures  is 
perhaps  much  greater  than  is  generally  supposed, 
and  acts  of  importance  which  are  not  directly 
observed  might  in  many  cases  be  transmitted 
through  repetition  for  the  benefit  of  the  group. 
We  know  this  to  be  the  main  agency  in  human 
progress.  New  ideas  are  of  rare  occurrence  with 
man.  Ideas  of  permanent  value  do  not  occur  to 
one  per  cent.,  perhaps  not  to  one  hundredth  of  one 
per  cent.,  of  civilized  mankind,  yet  few  of  such 
ideas  are  lost,  and  that  which  has  proved  of  ad- 
vantage to  an  individual  soon  becomes  the  com- 
mon possession  of  a  community. 

Among  the  lower  animals  new  and  advantageous 
ideas  are  probably  of  exceedingly  rare  occurrence. 
When  they  do  occur,  their  advantage  to  solitar); 


84  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

forms  is  very  slight,  being  that  of  minute  steps  of 
brain  development  and  hereditary  transmission  of 
the  same.  To  social  forms,  they  are  doubly  advan- 
tageous, since,  while  they  tend  to  brain  develop- 
ment, they  may  also  be  preserved  in  their  original 
form,  and  transmitted  directly  to  members  of  the 
group.  They  are  still  more  advantageous  to  the 
communal  animals,  from  the  closer  intercourse  of 
these,  and  their  constant  association  in  acts  of 
mutual  aid.  But  in  the  latter  instance  their  influ- 
ence is  usually  exerted  for  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
munity as  a  unit,  while  in  the  case  of  social  animals 
it  is  of  advantage  to  the  individual. 

The  result  of  such  a  process  of  evolution  in  the 
case  of  the  communal  animals  is  a  strict  special- 
ism. A  series  of  acts  of  advantage  to  the  com- 
munity are  slowly  developed,  and  are  repeated  so 
frequently  that  they  become  instinctive,  while  a 
fixed  circle  of  duties  arises,  through  whose  links 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  break.  There  is  no 
reason  to  beUeve  that  the  individual  initiative  is 
wanting.  The  varied  round  of  duties  of  a  com- 
munity of  ants,  for  instance,  could  only  have 
arisen  through  step  after  step  of  progress  from 
the  condition  of  the  solitary  ants.  If  such  steps 
have  been  made,  others  may  be  made,  and  are 
likely  to  be  preserved  if  found  advantageous. 
The  ant  individual  preserves  its  powers  of  obser- 
vation and  thought  and  may  initiate  new  processes. 
But  most  of  the  ant  communities  are  already  so 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       85 

excellently  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  their  life 
as  to  leave  little  opportunity  for  improvement,  so 
that  the  adoption  of  new  and  advantageous  habits 
are  certain  to  be  exceedingly  rare. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  communalism  has 
been  confined  to  animals  of  comparatively  low 
organization.  The  most  complete  examples  of  it 
exist  in  the  polyps  and  some  other  low  forms,  in 
which  each  community  has  become  a  compound 
individual,  the  members  remaining  attached  to  the 
parent  stock.  The  next  higher  examples  to  be 
met  are  the  frequently  cited  ants  and  bees,  belong- 
ing to  the  lowly  organized  class  of  arthropoda,  yet, 
through  the  advantage  of  association  and  mutual 
aid,  developing  actions  and  habits  only  found  else- 
where in  the  human  race.  The  only  example 
among  vertebrates  is  that  of  the  beavers,  mem- 
bers of  the  low  order  of  rodents.  With  these  the 
results  are  less  varied  and  intricate  than  with  the 
ants,  in  accordance  with  the  much  smaller  size  of 
the  community.  All  the  higher  vertebrates  are 
either  social  or  solitary  in  habit,  and  among  them 
the  narrow  specialism  of  the  communal  forms  does 
not  exist.  Each  individual  works  in  large  measure 
for  itself,  its  mental  powers  remain  generalized, 
and  it  is  not  tied  down  to  the  performance  of  a 
series  of  fixed  hereditary  acts  from  which  escape 
is  well-nigh  impossible. 

Of  the  social  animals,  man  presents  the  most 
complete  type,  and  the  one  from  which  we  can 


86  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

best  deduce  the  conditions  of  the  class.  A  human 
community  is  made  up  of  individuals  of  many 
degrees  of  intellectual  ability,  the  mass  remaining 
at  a  low  level,  the  few  attaining  a  high  level.  Yet 
those  of  high  powers  of  intellect  set  the  standard 
for  the  whole,  teach  the  lower  either  by  precept  or 
example,  and  aid  effectively  in  advancing  the  stand- 
ard of  the  community.  A  rope  or  chain  is  said  to 
be  as  weak  as  its  weakest  part.  A  human  com- 
munity, on  the  contrary,  may  be  said  to  be  as 
strong  as  its  strongest  part.  The  standing  of  the 
whole  is  dependent  upon  the  thoughts  and  acts  of 
the  few,  from  whom  the  general  mass  receive  new 
ideas  and  gain  new  habits.  The  existing  intellec- 
tual and  industrial  position  of  mankind  is  very 
largely  a  result  of  ideas  evolved  by  individuals 
age  after  age,  and  preserved  as  the  mental  prop- 
erty of  the  whole.  Destroy  the  books  and  works 
of  art  and  industry  of  any  community,  cut  off  its 
intellectual  leaders,  remove  from  the  general  mind 
the  results  of  education,  and  it  would  at  once  fall 
back  to  a  low  level  and  be  obliged  to  begin  again 
its  slow  climb  upward.  The  intellectual  standing 
of  any  civilized  nation  depends  upon  two  things : 
the  preservation  in  books,  in  memory,  and  in 
works  of  art  and  industry,  of  the  ideas  of  ancient 
workers  and  thinkers ;  and  the  mental  activity  of 
living  thinkers  and  inventors,  whose  work  takes 
its  start  from  this  standpoint  of  stored-up  thought. 
Rob  any  community  of  all  its  basic  ideas,  and  it 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       8/ 

would  quickly  retrograde  to  a  primitive  condition 
of  thought  and  organization,  from  which  it  might 
need  many  centuries  to  emerge. 

It  has  been  said  above  that  man  is  the  highest 
example  of  the  social  animal.  While  that  is  the 
truth,  it  is  not  the  whole  truth.  He  is  at  the  same 
time  the  highest  example  of  the  communal  animal. 
Mutual  aid,  organization  into  strictly  rounded  com- 
munities, labor  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  is  as 
declared  in  him  as  in  the  most  developed  community 
of  the  ants,  and  we  admire  the  work  of  the  latter 
simply  because  they  repeat  at  a  lower  level  the 
work  of  man.  In  truth,  in  man  we  have  a  splendid 
example  of  the  existence  of  the  individual  initiative 
in  connection  with  the  communal  organization. 
Specialism  exists  in  a  hundred  forms.  Some  nations 
have  been  tied  down  by  it  to  conditions  almost 
as  fixed  as  those  of  the  ants.  But  generalism  exists 
in  as  full  a  measure,  new  ideas  are  constantly 
modifying  or  replacing  the  old,  and  the  communism 
of  man  is  a  progressive  one,  steadily  borne  upward 
on  the  wings  of  new  ideas.  Individual  thought 
has  the  fullest  swing,  and  it  is  to  the  system  of 
special  reward  for  useful  thought  and  act  that  man 
owes  much  of  his  great  advance.  On  the  other 
hand,  reward  without  useful  service  has  been  one 
of  the  leading  agencies  that  have  acted  to  check 
human  progress. 

The  lower  animals  do  not  possess  the  advantage 
of  man  in  his  power  of  preserving  the  thoughts  and 


88  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

products  of  the  past  as  a  foundation  for  new  steps 
of  progress.  Memory  may  aid  them  to  a  slight  de- 
gree, but  they  have  no  special  means  of  recording 
useful  ideas.  This  cannot  fairly  be  said  of  the  com- 
munal forms,  which  possess  the  result  of  the  labors 
of  former  generations  as  useful  object  lessons.  But 
in  the  higher  animals  no  means  exist  for  the  per- 
manent preservation  of  ideas,  and  each  step  of 
progress  must  be  due  to  the  direct  influence  of 
living  individuals  and  the  indirect  result  of  natural 
selection. 

This  is  one  cause  of  the  slow  mental  advance  of 
the  lower  animals.  A  second  is  the  deficiency  in 
educational  influences,  which  have  had  so  much  to 
do  with  human  progress.  Education  is  not  quite 
wanting  in  the  brute  creation.  There  are  many 
instances  on  record  of  instruction  given  by  the 
adults  to  the  young.  But  this  agency  is  in  its 
embryo  stage,  and  its  influence  must  be  small. 
Again,  each  tribe  of  lower  animals  is  apt  to  fall 
into  a  fixed  circle  of  life  acts,  to  become  so  closely 
adapted  to  some  situation  or  condition  that  any 
change  of  habits  would  be  likely  to  prove  detri- 
mental. This  is  a  state  of  affairs  tending  to  pro- 
duce stagnation  and  vigorously  to  check  advance. 
Many  instances  of  this  could  be  cited  from  human 
history,  while  it  is  the  common  condition  with  the 
animals  below  man. 

To  return  to  the  apes,  the  considerations  above 
taken  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  chiefly,  if  not 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  INTELLIGENCE       89 

solely,  to  their  social  habits  that  they  owe  their 
mental  quickness.  While  only  in  minor  traits  com- 
munal, they  are  eminently  social,  and  have  doubt- 
less derived  great  advantage  from  this.  The 
lemurs,  which  share  their  habitat  and  resemble 
them  in  organization,  are  markedly  unsocial,  and 
are  as  mentally  dull  as  the  apes  are  mentally 
quick.  Possibly,  the  thought  powers  of  the  apes 
once  set  in  train,  there  may  have  been  something 
in  the  exigencies  of  arboreal  life  that  quickened 
their  powers  of  observation ;  but  we  are  constrained 
to  believe  that  the  main  influence  to  which  they 
owe  their  development  is  that  of  social  habits,  in 
which  they  stand  at  a  high,  if  not  the  highest, 
level  among  the  distinctly  social  animals. 

The  thought  capacities  of  the  ape  intellect  are 
general,  not  special.  The  mind  of  these  animals 
remains  free  and  capable  of  new  thought  in  new 
situations.  It  is  fully  alive  to  the  needs  and  dan- 
gers of  arboreal  life,  and  advances  no  farther  in  its 
native  habitat  because  there  is  nothing  more  of 
importance  to  be  learned.  But  while  fixed  it  is  not 
stagnant.  When  the  ape  is  taken  from  its  native 
woods  and  put  among  the  many  new  conditions 
arising  on  shipboard  and  in  human  habitations,  we 
quickly  perceive  indications  of  its  mental  alertness. 
Its  faculties  of  observation  and  imitation  are  ac- 
tively exercised,  and  new  habits  and  conceptions 
are  quickly  gained.  Could  the  apes  be  made  to 
breed  freely  in  captivity,  so  that  a  domestic  race, 


90  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

comparable  to  that  of  the  dogs,  could  be  obtained, 
their  mental  powers  might,  perhaps,  be  cultivated 
to  an  extraordinary  degree,  yielding  instances  of 
thought  approaching  that  of  man.  The  ape  is  espe- 
cially notable  for  its  tendency  to  attempt  new  acts 
of  itself,  not  waiting  to  be  taught,  as  in  the  case  of 
other  domesticated  animals.  In  short,  it  seems  by 
all  odds  to  be  the  animal  best  fitted  mentally  to 
serve  as  the  basis  of  a  high  intellectual  develop- 
ment, as  it  is  the  best  fitted  physically  to  change 
from  the  attitude  of  the  quadruped  to  that  of  the 
biped. 

The  anthropoid  apes  in  general  manifest  a  rever- 
sion from  the  social  toward  the  solitary  state,  this 
condition  reaching  its  ultimate  in  the  orang,  which 
is  one  of  the  most  solitary  of  animals.  The  smaller 
forms  are  the  most  social,  the  gibbons  being  decid- 
edly so.  There  is  very  good  reason  to  believe 
that  the  man-ape  was  highly  social,  if  we  may 
judge  from  what  we  find  in  all  races  of  men, 
and  all  grades,  from  the  savage  to  the  civilized. 
This  animal  was  thus  in  a  position  to  avail  itself 
of  all  the  advantages  of  the  social  habit,  and  to 
gain  the  mental  development  thence  arising. 
How  long  ago  it  was  when  it  left  the  trees  and 
made  its  home  upon  the  ground,  it  is  impossible 
to  say.  It  may  have  been  as  far  back  as  the 
early  Pliocene  or  the  late  Miocene  Period,  or  even 
earlier.  As  yet  its  brain  was  probably  no  more 
developed  than  in  the  case  of  the  other   anthro- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       9 1 

poids,  perhaps  less  so  than  in  the  existing  species. 
But  in  its  new  habitat  it  was  exposed  to  a  series  of 
novel  conditions  that  must  have  exerted  a  health- 
ful and  stimulating  influence  upon  its  mind. 

If  it  had  remained  in  the  trees  we  should  prob- 
ably to-day  have  only  a  man-ape  still.  Leaving 
their  safe  shelter  for  the  ground,  it  became  ex- 
posed to  new  dangers  and  was  forced  to  fit  itself 
to  fresh  conditions.  Prowling  carnivorous  animals 
haunted  its  new  place  of  residence,  and  these  it  had 
to  avoid  by  speed  or  alertness  of  motion,  or  combat 
them  by  strength  and  the  use  of  weapons.  The 
carnivorous  tastes  which  it  had  in  all  probability 
gained,  made  it  a  creature  of  the  chase,  pursuing 
swift  animals,  capturing  them  by  fleetness  or 
stratagem,  or  bringing  them  down  with  the  aid  of 
clubs  and  missiles.  Such  a  new  series  of  duties 
and  dangers  could  not  fail  to  exert  a  vigorous 
influence  upon  a  brain  already  quick  of  thought 
and  susceptible  to  fresh  impressions,  and  we  may 
well  conceive  that  the  man-ape  then  entered  upon  a 
new  and  rapid  phase  of  mental  progress,  its  brain 
developing  in  powers  and  growing  in  dimensions 
as  it  slowly  became  adapted  to  its  new  situation 
and  grew  able  to  cope  with  fresh  demands  and 
critical  exigencies. 

There  is  still  another  influence  which  has  had 
its  share,  perhaps  a  very  prominent  share,  in  the 
intellectual  development  of  animals,  yet  which  no 
writer  seems  to  have  considered  from  this  point  of 


92  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

view.  The  probable  effect  of  this  influence  needs 
to  be  taken  into  account,  in  conclusion  of  this  sec- 
tion of  our  subject.  It  is  that  of  the  comparative 
agency  of  the  senses  in  the  development  of  the 
mind,  and  the  effects  likely  to  arise  from  the  domi- 
nance of  some  one  of  the  senses. 

In  the  lowest  animals  touch  was  the  predomi- 
nant, if  not  the  only  sense,  taste  perhaps  being 
associated  with  it.  But  these  senses,  which  de- 
mand actual  contact  with  objects,  obviously  could 
give  none  but  the  narrowest  conception  of  the  con- 
ditions of  nature.  The  other  senses,  sight,  hear- 
ing, and  smell,  give  intimations  of  the  existence 
and  conditions  of  more  or  less  distant  objects,  and 
their  development  greatly  widened  the  scope  of 
outreach  in  animals  and  must  have  exerted  a 
powerful  influence  upon  the  growth  of  mental 
conditions. 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  the  sense  which 
gives  the  fullest  and  most  extended  information 
about  existing  things  is  necessarily  the  one  that 
acts  most  effectively  upon  the  mind,  and  that  this 
sense  is  that  of  sight.  Hearing  and  smell  yield  us 
information  concerning  certain  local  conditions  of 
objects,  but  sight  extends  to  the  limits  of  the  uni- 
verse, while  in  regard  to  near  objects  it  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  practically  instantaneous  in  action 
and  much  fuller  in  the  information  it  conveys. 
Sight,  therefore,  is  evidently  the  most  important  of 
the  senses,  so  far  as  the  broadening  of  the  mental 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       93 

powers  is  concerned,  and  any  animal  in  which  it  is 
predominant  must  possess  a  great  advantage  in  this 
respect  over  those  species  controlled  to  any  great 
degree  by  one  of  the  lower  senses. 

It  may  be  said  here  that  sight  only  slowly  gained 
dominance  in  animal  life.  Though  the  eye,  as  an 
organ  of  vision,  is  found  at  a  low  level  in  the  ani- 
mate scale,  the  indications  are  that  it  long  played 
a  subordinate  part,  and  has  gained  its  full  promi- 
nence only  in  man.  During  long  ages  life  was 
confined  to  the  sea,  hosts  of  beings  dwelling  in  the 
semi-obscurity  of  the  under  waters,  and  great  num- 
bers at  too  great  a  depth  for  light  to  reach  them. 
To  vast  multitudes  of  these  sight  was  partly  or 
completely  useless.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
hearing,  the  under-water  habitat  being  nearly  or 
completely  a  soundless  one.  The  only  one  of  the 
higher  senses  likely  to  be  of  general  use  to  these 
oceanic  forms  is  that  of  smell,  and  it  may  be 
that  their  knowledge  of  distant  objects  was  mainly 
gained  through  sensitiveness  to  odors. 

Of  invertebrate  land  animals  the  same  must  be 
said.  The  land  moUusks  and  the  great  order  of 
insects  and  other  land  arthropods  only  to  a  minor 
extent  dwell  in  the  open  light.  Very  many  species 
haunt  the  semi-obscurity  of  trees  or  groves,  hide 
among  the  grasses,  lurk  under  bark,  sticks,  and 
stones,  or  dwell  through  most  of  their  lives  under- 
ground. Hosts  of  others  are  nocturnal.  To  only 
a  small  percentage  of  insects  can  sight  be  of  any 


94  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

great  utility,  while  hearing  seems  also  to  be  of 
slight  importance.  Smell  is  probably  the  principal 
sense  through  which  these  animals  gain  informa- 
tion of  distant  objects. 

There  is  existing  evidence  that  the  sense  of 
smell  in  some  insects  is  remarkably  acute.  The 
imprisoned  female  of  certain  nocturnal  species, 
for  instance,  will  attract  the  males  from  a  com- 
paratively immense  distance,  under  conditions  in 
which  neither  sight  nor  hearing  could  have  been 
brought  into  play.  The  emission  of  odors  and 
acute  sensibility  to  them  is  the  only  presumable 
agency  at  work  in  those  instances.  As  regards  the 
most  intelligent  of  the  insects,  the  ants  and  the  ter- 
mites, the  former  are  largely  subterranean,  the 
latter  not  only  subterranean,  but  blind.  In  the 
one  case,  sight  can  play  only  a  minor  part,  in 
the  other,  it  plays  no  part  at  all.  Touch  and 
smell  seem  to  be  the  dominant  senses  in  these 
animals,  and  the  degree  of  intelligence  they  dis- 
play shows  of  how  high  a  development  these  senses 
are  susceptible.  Yet  the  intelligence  arising  from 
them  must  necessarily  be  local  and  limited  in  its 
application ;  it  cannot  yield  the  breadth  of  infor- 
mation and  degree  of  mental  development  possible 
under  the  dominance  of  sight. 

In  the  vertebrates  we  find  a  fully  developed  and 
broadly  capable  organ  of  vision,  and  it  might  be 
hastily  assumed  that  in  those  animals  sight  is  the 
dominant  sense.     But  there  are   numerous   facts 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGEiYCE       95 

which  lead  to  a  different  conclusion.  Many  of  the 
vertebrates  are  nocturnal,  many  dwell  in  obscure 
situations,  many  in  the  total  darkness  of  caverns, 
underground  tunnels  and  excavations,  or  the  ocean's 
depths.  To  all  these  sight  must  be  of  secondary 
importance.  Hearing  also  can  be  of  no  superior 
value,  and  the  dominant  sense  must  be  that  of  smell. 
In  the  bats  there  would  appear  to  be  a  remarkably 
acute  power  of  touch,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
facility  with  which  they  can  avoid  obstacles  at  full 
flight  after  their  eyes  have  been  removed. 

It  might,  however,  be  supposed  that  in  the 
higher  land  vertebrates  sight  is  predominant,  and 
that  the  diurnal  mammals  depend  principally  upon 
their  eyes  for  their  knowledge  of  nature.  But 
there  are  facts  which  throw  doubt  upon  this  sup- 
position. These  facts  are  of  two  kinds,  external 
and  internal.  That  the  quadrupeds,  in  general, 
are  highly  sensitive  to  odors  is  well  known,  and 
also  that  they  trust  very  largely  to  the  sense  of 
smell.  Hunters  are  abundantly  aware  of  this,  and 
have  to  be  quite  as  careful  to  avoid  being  smelt  by 
their  game  as  to  avoid  being  seen.  We  have  abun- 
dant evidence  of  the  remarkable  acuteness  of  this 
sense  in  so  high  an  animal  as  the  dog,  which  can 
follow  its  prey  for  miles  by  scent  alone,  and  can 
distinguish  the  odors,  not  only  of  different  species, 
but  of  different  individuals,  being  capable  of  fol- 
lowing the  trail  of  one  person  amid  the  tracks  of 
.numerous  others. 


96  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

The  internal  evidence  of  this  fact  is  equally  sig- 
nificant. In  the  vertebrates,  in  general,  the  olfac- 
tory lobe  of  the  brain  is  largely  developed,  much 
exceeding  in  size  the  lobe  of  the  optic  nerve.  It 
forms  the  anterior  portion  of  the  cerebrum,  and  in 
many  instances  constitutes  a  large  section  of  that 
organ,  being  marked  off  from  it  by  only  a  slight 
surface  depression.  If  we  can  fairly  judge,  then, 
by  anatomical  evidence,  the  sense  of  smell  plays  a 
very  prominent  part  in  the  life  of  all  the  lower 
vertebrates.  If  we  take  our  domestic  animals  as 
an  example,  the  olfactory  lobe  of  the  horse  is  con- 
siderably larger  than  that  of  man,  though  the  brain, 
as  a  whole,  is  very  much  smaller,  so  that,  compara- 
tively, this  organ  constitutes  a  much  larger  portion 
of  the  total  brain.  The  other  domestic  animals 
yield  similar  evidence  of  the  great  activity  of  the 
sense  of  smell. 

While  there  is  no  doubt  that  sight  is  an  active 
sense  in  all  the  higher  quadrupeds,  it  evidently 
divides  this  activity  with  smell  to  a  much  greater 
degree  than  is  the  case  with  man,  in  whom  smell 
plays  a  minor  part,  sight  a  major  part,  among  the 
organs  of  sense. 

This  fact  shows  its  effect  in  the  comparative 
mental  development  of  man  and  the  lower  ani- 
mals. Man,  depending  so  largely  on  vision,  gains 
the  broadest  conception  of  the  conditions  of  nature, 
with  a  consequent  great  expansion  of  the  intel- 
lect.   The  quadrupeds,  depending  to  a  considerable 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  INTELLIGENCE       97 

degree  upon  smell  for  their  conceptions  of  nature, 
are  much  narrower  in  their  range  of  information 
and  lower  in  their  mental  development.  As  re- 
gards the  ape  family,  it  occupies  a  position  be- 
tween man  and  the  quadrupeds,  and  its  intellectual 
activity  may  well  be  due  in  great  measure  to  an 
increased  trust  in  sight  and  a  decreased  trust  in 
smell  in  gaining  its  conception  of  nature. 

The  question  may  arise,  Why,  if  sight  has  this 
superiority  over  smell,  did  it  not  long  since  gain 
predominance,  and  relegate  smell  to  a  minor  posi- 
tion .'*  It  may  be  answered  that  the  superiority  of 
sight  is  not  complete.  In  one  particular  this  sense 
is  inferior  to  smell.  The  leading  agency  in  the 
development  of  the  sense  organs  of  animals  has 
been  the  struggle  for  existence,  including  escape 
from,  enemies,  and  the  perception  of  food-animals 
or  material.  In  these  processes  acuteness  of  smell 
plays  a  very  important  part.  It  has,  moreover,  the 
advantage  of  gathering  information  from  all  direc- 
tions, while  sight  is  very  limited  in  its  range.  The 
eye  is  so  subject  to  injury  that  its  multiplication 
over  the  body  would  be  rather  disadvantageous 
than  otherwise,  while,  localized  as  it  is,  a  movement 
of  the  head  is  necessary  to  any  breadth  of  vision, 
and  the  whole  body  must  rotate  to  bring  the  com- 
plete horizon  under  observation.  It  seems  evident, 
from  these  considerations,  that  sight  is  much  in- 
ferior to  smell  in  the  timely  perception  of  many 
forms  of  danger.     Light  comes  in  straight  lines 

H 


98  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

only,  and  a  movement  of  the  body  is  necessary  to 
perceive  perils  lying  outside  these  lines.  Odors, 
on  the  contrary,  spread  in  all  directions,  and  make 
themselves  manifest  from  the  rear  as  well  as  the 
front. 

In  all  probability  this  fact  has  had  much  to  do 
with  the  continued  dependence  of  animals  on  smell. 
In  fishes  and  reptiles  a  full  sweep  of  vision  is  so 
slowly  gained  that  some  more  active  sentinel  sense 
is  requisite  to  safety.  In  mammals  the  head  ro- 
tates more  easily,  but  valuable  time  is  lost  in  the 
rotation  of  the  whole  body.  These  animals,  there- 
fore, depend  on  both  sight  and  smell,  in  some 
cases  equally,  in  some  more  fully  on  one  or  the 
other  of  these  senses.  When  we  reach  the  semi- 
upright  ape,  we  have  to  do  with  a  form  capable 
of  turning  the  body  and  observing  the  whole 
surrounding  circle  of  objects  more  quickly  and 
readily  than  any  quadruped.  As  a  result,  these 
animals  have  grown  to  depend  more  fully  on 
vision  and  less  on  smell  than  the  quadrupeds. 
Finally,  in  fully  erect  man,  the  power  of  quick 
turning  and  alert  observation  of  the  whole  cir- 
cle of  the  horizon  reaches  its  ultimate,  and  in 
man  sight  has  become  in  a  large  degree  the 
dominant  sense,  and  smell  has  fallen  to  a  minor 
place. 

With  this  change  in  the  relations  of  the  senses 
has  come  a  change  in  the  degree  of  mental  develop- 
ment.    It  is  highly  probable  that  the  dependence 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  INTELLIGENCE       99 

of  the  apes  on  vision  instead  of  smell  has  had 
much  to  do  with  their  mental  activity,  quickness 
of  observation,  and  active  curiosity.  In  man  there 
can  be  no  question  that  it  has  played  a  great  part 
in  the  rapid  development  of  his  intellectual  powers, 
and  in  the  extraordinary  breadth  of  his  conception 
of  nature  as  compared  with  that  of  the  lower 
animals.  While  hearing  and  smell  advise  us  of 
neighboring  conditions  only,  and  have  their  chief 
utility  as  aids  to  the  preservation  of  existence,  sight 
makes  us  aware  of  the  conditions  of  nature  in  re- 
mote localities,  extending  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  earth.  While  this  sense  plays  its  part  as  one 
of  the  protective  agencies,  it  is  still  more  useful  as 
an  agent  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  in  general, 
and  has  much  to  do  with  the  development  of  the 
intellectual  faculties.  We  may  look,  therefore,  upon 
the  increasing  dominance  of  the  sense  of  sight  as 
a  leading  agency  in  the  making  of  man  as  a  think- 
ing being,  and  may  ascribe  to  this  in  a  considerable 
measure  the  thirst  for  information  and  faculty  of 
imitation  so  marked  in  the  apes. 


VII 


THE   ORIGIN   OF   LANGUAGE 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  man,  of  which  we 
spoke  as  among  those  to  which  his  high  develop- 
ment is  due,  is  that  of  language.  There  is  nothing 
that  has  had  more  to  do  with  the  mental  progress 
of  the  human  race  than  facility  in  the  communica- 
tion of  thought,  and  in  this  vocal  language  is  the 
principal  agent  and  in  the  fullest  measure  is  the 
instrument  of  the  mind.  Human  speech  has,  in 
these  modern  times,  become  remarkably  expres- 
sive, indicating  all  the  conditions,  relations,  and 
qualities,  not  only  of  things,  but  of  thoughts  and 
ideal  conceptions.  And  the  utility  of  language 
has  been  enormously  augmented  by  the  develop- 
ment of  the  arts  of  writing  and  printing.  Origin- 
ally thought  could  only  be  communicated  by  word 
of  mouth  and  transmitted  by  the  aid  of  the  memory. 
Now  it  can  be  recorded  and  kept  indefinitely,  so 
that  no  useful  thought  of  able  thinkers  need  be 
lost,  but  every  valuable  idea  can  be  retained  as  an 
educative  influence  through  unnumbered  ages. 

In  this  instrumentality,  which  has  been  of  such 
extraordinary  value  to  man,  the  lower  animals  are 
strikingly  deficient.     They  are  not  quite  devoid  of 

lOO 


THE   ORIGIN  OF  LANGUAGE  lOI 

vocal  language,  though  it  is  doubtful  if  any  of  the 
sounds  made  by  them  have  a  much  higher  lin- 
guistic office  than  that  of  the  interjection.  But 
emotional  sounds,  to  which  these  belong,  are  not 
destitute  of  value  in  conveying  intelligence.  They 
embrace  cries  of  warning,  appeals  to  affection, 
demands  for  help,  calls  for  food  supplies,  threats, 
and  other  indications  of  passion,  fear,  or  feeling. 
And  the  significance  of  these  vocal  sounds  to  ani- 
mals may  often  be  higher  than  we  suppose.  That 
is,  they  may  not  be  limited  to  the  vague  character 
of  the  interjection,  but  may  occasionally  convey  a 
specific  meaning,  indicative  of  some  object  or  some 
action.  In  other  words,  they  may  advance  from 
the  interjection  toward  the  noun  or  the  verb,  and 
approach  in  value  the  verbal  root,  a  sound  which 
embraces  a  complete  proposition.  Thus  a  cry  of 
warning  may  be  so  modulated  as  to  indicate  to  the 
hearer,  "  Beware,  a  lion  is  coming ! "  or  to  convey 
some  other  specific  warning.  We  know  that  accent 
or  tone  plays  a  great  part  in  Chinese  speech,  the 
most  primitive  of  existing  forms,  a  variation  in  tone 
quite  changing  the  meaning  of  words.  The  same 
may  be  the  case  with  the  sounds  uttered  by  animals 
to  a  much  greater  extent  than  we  suppose. 

We  know  this  to  be  the  case  with  some  of  the 
birds.  The  common  fowl  of  our  poultry  yards  has 
a  variety  of  distinct  calls,  each  understood  by  its 
mates,  while  special  modulations  of  some  call  or 
cry  are  not  uncommon  among  birds.     The  mam- 


102  MAiy  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

malia  are  not  fluent  in  vocal  powers,  their  range 
of  tones  being  limited,  yet  they  certainly  con- 
vey definite  information  to  one  another.  Recent 
observers  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
apes  do,  to  a  certain  extent,  talk  with  one  another. 
The  experiments  to  prove  this  have  not  been 
very  satisfactory,  yet  they  seem  to  indicate  that 
the  woodland  cries  of  the  apes  possess  a  certain 
range  of  definite  meaning. 

We  are  utterly  ignorant  of  what  powers  of 
speech  the  man-ape  possessed.  It  must,  in  its 
developed  state  as  a  land-dwelling,  wandering, 
and  hunting  biped,  have  needed  a  wider  range 
of  utterance  than  during  its  arboreal  residence. 
It  was  exposed  to  new  dangers,  new  exigencies 
of  life  affected  it,  and  its  old  cries  very  probably 
gained  new  meanings,  or  new  cries  were  developed 
to  meet  new  perils  or  conditions.  In  this  way  a 
few  root  words  may  have  been  gained,  rising  above 
the  value  of  the  interjection,  and  expressing  some 
degree  of  definite  meaning,  though  still  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  scale  of  language,  the  first  stepping 
stones  from  the  vague  cry  toward  the  significant 
word. 

Between  this  stage  and  that  of  human  language 
an  immense  gap  supervenes,  a  broad  abyss  which  it 
seems  at  first  sight  impossible  to  bridge.  As  the 
facts  stand,  however,  it  has  been  largely  bridged 
by  man  himself.  Side  by  side  with  the  highly 
intricate  languages  which  now  exist,  are  various 


THE   ORIGIN   OF  LANGUAGE  1 03 

primitive  forms  of  speech  which  take  us  far  back 
toward  the  origin  of  human  language.  So  ad- 
vanced a  people  as  the  Chinese  speak  a  language 
practically  composed  of  root  words,  the  higher 
forms  of  expression  being  attained  by  simple  de- 
vices in  the  combination  of  these  primitive  word 
forms.  The  same  may  be  said,  in  a  measure,  of 
ancient  Egyptian  speech.  We  can  conceive  of  an 
early  state  of  affairs  in  which  these  devices  of 
word  compounding  were  not  yet  employed,  and 
in  which  each  word  existed  as  a  separate  expres- 
sion, unmodified  by  association  with  any  other 
word.  Among  the  savage  races  of  the  earth  very 
crude  forms  of  language  often  exist,  the  methods 
of  associating  words  into  sentences  being  of  the 
simplest  character,  though  few  surpass  the  Chinese 
in  simplicity  of  system. 

But  all  this  represents  an  advanced  stage  of 
language  evolution,  a  development  of  thought  and 
its  instrument  which  has  taken  thousands  of  years 
to  complete.  We  cannot  fairly  judge  from  it  what 
the  speech  of  primitive  man  may  have  been,  for  in 
every  case  there  has  been  a  long  process  of  devel- 
opment ;  aided,  no  doubt,  in  many  cases,  by  educa- 
cative  influences  acting  from  the  more  advanced 
upon  the  speech  of  the  less  advanced  races. 

If  we  seek  to  analyze  any  of  these  languages, 
the  most  intricate  as  well  as  the  least  advanced, 
we  find  ourselves  in  most  instances  able  to  isolate 
the   root  word   as   the   basic   element  of   speech. 


I04  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

From  this  simple  form  all  the  more  developed 
forms  seem  to  have  arisen.  Take  away  their  com- 
bining devices,  and  the  root  words  fall  apart  like 
so  many  beads  of  speech,  each  with  a  defined  sig- 
nificance of  its  own  and  fully  capable  of  existing 
by  itself.  The  Aryan  and  the  Chinese  especially 
offer  themselves  to  this  analytic  method.  Strip 
off  the  suffixes  and  affixes  from  Aryan  words,  get 
down  to  the  germinal  forms  from  which  these 
words  have  grown,  isolate  these  germs  of  speech, 
and  we  find  ourselves  in  a  language  of  root  forms, 
each  of  which  has  grown  vague  and  wide  in 
significance  as  the  modifying  elements  that  lim- 
ited its  meaning  have  been  removed.  In  the 
Chinese  the  problem  is  a  much  simpler  one.  We 
need  simply  to  take  the  existing  words  out  of 
their  place  in  the  sentence  and  let  them  stand 
alone,  and  we  have  root  words  at  first  hand.  We 
may  go  through  the  whole  range  of  human  speech 
and,  with  more  or  less  difficulty,  arrive  at  a  similar 
result.  In  short,  the  evidence  seems  conclusive 
that  the  language  of  mankind  began  in  the  use 
of  isolated  words  of  vague  and  broad  signifi- 
cance, and  that  all  the  subsequent  development 
of  language  consisted  in  the  combination  of  these 
words,  with  a  modification  and  limitation  of  their 
meaning,  the  families  of  speech  differing  princi- 
pally in  the  method  of  combination  devised. 

It  must,  indeed,  be  said  that  in  isolating  the  root 
forms  of  modern  languages  we  reach  conditions  still 


THE   ORIGIN  OF  LANGUAGE  1 05 

far  removed  from  those  of  primitive  speech.  These 
roots  are  in  a  measure  packed  with  meaning.  Time 
has  added  to  their  significance,  and  they  lack  the 
simplicity  they  probably  once  possessed.  In  par- 
ticular, they  have  gained  ideal  senses,  entered  in 
a  measure  into  that  broad  language  of  the  mind 
which  has  been  gradually  added  to  the  language  of 
outer  nature.  The  recognition  of  the  existence  of 
mind  and  thought  doubtless  came  somewhat  late 
in  human  development.  Man  long  knew  only  his 
body  and  the  world  that  surrounded  it.  Step  by 
step  only  did  he  discover  his  mind.  And  when  it 
became  necessary  to  speak  of  mental  conditions, 
no  new  language  was  invented,  but  old  words  were 
broadened  to  cover  the  new  conditions.  The  mind 
is  analogous  to  the  body  in  its  operations,  ideas 
are  analogues  of  things,  and  it  was  usually  neces- 
sary only  to  add  to  the  physical  significance  of 
words  the  corresponding  ideal  significance.  In 
this  way  a  secondary  language  slowly  grew  up, 
underlying  and  subtending  the  primary  language, 
until  the  words  invented  to  express  the  world  of 
things  were  employed  to  include  as  vast  a  world 
of  thoughts. 

In  getting  down,  then,  to  the  language  of  primi- 
tive man  we  are  obliged  to  divest  the  root  forms 
of  speech  of  all  this  ideal  significance,  and  confine 
them  to  their  physical  meanings.  In  deaUng  with 
the  languages  of  the  least  advanced  existing  tribes 
of  mankind,  indeed,  little  of  this  is  requisite.     The 


I06  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

language  of  the  mind  with  them  has  not  yet  begun 
its  growth  or  is  in  its  first  simple  stages.  Only- 
half  the  work  of  the  evolution  of  language  is  com- 
pleted. There  is,  indeed,  no  tribe  so  undeveloped 
as  to  use  the  primitive  forms  of  speech.  The  most 
savage  of  the  races  of  mankind  have  made  some 
progress  in  the  art  of  combining  words,  gained 
some  ideas  of  syntax  and  grammatical  forms.  Yet 
in  certain  instances  the  progress  has  been  very 
slight,  and  in  all  we  can  see  the  living  traces  of  the 
earlier  method  of  speech  from  which  they  emerged. 
It  is  to  the  ability  to  think  abstractly  and  to  form 
words  with  an  abstract  significance  that  human 
language  owes  much  of  its  high  development. 
But  this  ability  is  largely  confined  to  civilized 
mankind,  savages  being  greatly  or  wholly  lacking 
in  it.  This  deficiency  is  indicated  in  their  modes 
of  speech.  Thus  a  native  of  the  Society  Islands, 
while  able  to  say  '*  dog's  tail,"  "  sheep's  tail,"  etc., 
has  no  separate  word  for  tail.  He  cannot  abstract 
the  general  term  from  its  immediate  relations.  In 
the  same  way  the  uncivilized  Malay  has  twenty 
different  words  to  express  striking  with  various 
objects,  as  with  thick  or  thin  wood,  a  club,  the  fist, 
the  palm,  etc.,  but  he  has  no  word  for  ** striking" 
as  an  isolated  thought.  We  find  the  same  defi- 
ciency in  the  speech  of  the  American  Indians.  A 
Cherokee,  for  instance,  has  no  word  for  *'  washing," 
but  can  express  the  different  kinds  of  washing  by 
no  less  than  thirteen  distinct  words. 


THE    ORIGIN  OF  LANGUAGE  10/ 

All  this  indicates  a  primitive  stage  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  language,  one  in  which  every  word  had  its 
immediate  and  local  application,  while  in  each  word 
a  whole  story  was  told.  The  power  of  dividing 
thought  into  its  separate  elements  was  not  yet  pos- 
sessed. As  thought  progressed  men  got  from  the 
idea  of  "  dog  "  to  that  of  '*  dog's  tail."  They  could 
not  think  of  the  part  without  the  whole.  Then 
they  reached  a  word  for  "  dog's  tail  wags."  But  the 
idea  of  "  wags  "  as  an  abstract  motion  was  beyond 
their  powers  of  thought.  They  could  not  think  of 
action,  but  only  of  some  object  in  action.  The 
language  of  the  American  Indians  was  an  immedi- 
ate derivation  from  this  mode  of  word  formation, 
every  proposition,  however  intricate  it  might  be, 
constituting  a  single  word,  whose  component  parts 
could  not  be  used  separately.  The  mode  of  speech 
here  indicated  is  one  form  of  development  of  the 
root.  Other  forms  are  the  compounding  of  the  Chi- 
nese and  the  Mongolian  and  the  inflection  of  the 
Aryan  and  the  Semitic,  all  pointing  directly  back 
to  the  root  form  as  their  unit  of  growth. 

The  inference  to  be  drawn  from  all  this  is  that 
the  language  of  primitive  man  consisted  of  isolated 
words,  sounds  which  may  originally  have  been  mere 
cries  or  calls,  but  which  gradually  gained  some 
definiteness  of  meaning,  as  signifying  some  of  the 
varied  conditions  of  the  outer  world.  This  is  the 
conclusion  to  which  philologists  have  now  very 
generally  come.      The  recognition  that  language 


I08  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

consists  of  root  words,  variously  modified  and  com- 
bined, leads  back  irresistibly  to  a  period  in  which 
those  roots  had  not  yet  begun  to  be  modified  and 
combined.  The  roots  are  the  hard,  persistent 
things  in  human  speech.  Grammatical  expedients 
are  the  net  in  which  these  roots  have  been  caught 
and  confined.  Free  them  from  the  net,  and  it  falls 
to  pieces,  while  the  roots  remain  intact,  the  solid 
and  persistent  primitive  germs  of  speech. 

Yet  in  isolating  root  language  as  the  basis  of 
grammatical  language  we  go  far  toward  closing 
the  gap  between  animal  and  human  speech.  It 
is  still,  doubtless,  of  considerable  width,  yet  the 
distinction  is  no  longer  one  of  kind,  but  is  simply 
one  of  degree.  Primitive  man  had  a  much  greater 
scope  of  language  than  is  possessed  by  any  of  the 
lower  animals,  and  the  vocal  sounds  used  had  a 
clearer  and  more  definite  significance ;  but  their 
nature  was  the  same.  They  doubtless  began  in  calls 
and  cries  like  those  in  use  by  animals,  and  though 
these  had  increased  in  number  and  gained  more 
distinct  meanings,  the  difference  in  character  was 
not  great.  In  short,  the  analytic  method  employed 
by  modern  philologists  has  gone  far  to  remove  the 
supposed  vast  distinction  between  brute  and  human 
speech,  and  has  traced  back  the  language  of  man 
to  a  stage  in  which  it  is  nearly  related  in  character 
to  the  language  of  animals.  The  distinction  has 
been  brought  down  to  one  of  degree,  scarcely  one 
of  kind.     A  direct  and  simple  process  of  evolution 


THE    ORIGIN  OF  LANGUAGE  lOQ 

was  alone  needed  to  produce  it,  and  through  that 
evolution  man  undoubtedly  passed  in  his  progress 
upward  from  his  ancestral  stage. 

The  language  of  the  lower  animals  is  a  vowel 
form  of  speech.  It  lacks  the  consonantal  elements, 
the  characteristic  of  articulation.  In  this  man  seems 
to  have  at  first  agreed  with  them.  The  infant 
begins  its  vocal  utterances  with  simple  cries ;  only 
at  a  later  age  does  it  begin  to  articulate.  If  we 
may  judge  from  the  development  of  language  in 
the  child,  man  began  to  speak  with  the  use  of 
sounds  native  to  the  vocal  organs,  and  progressed 
by  a  process  of  imitation,  endeavoring  to  reproduce 
the  sounds  heard  around  him :  the  voices  of  ani- 
mals, the  sounds  of  nature,  etc.  This  tendency  to 
imitate  is  not  peculiar  to  man.  It  exists  in  many 
birds,  and  in  some  attains  a  marked  development. 
The  mocking  bird,  for  instance,  has  an  extraor- 
dinary flexibility  of  the  vocal  organs  and  power  of 
imitating  the  voices  of  other  birds.  The  parrot 
and  some  other  birds  go  farther  in  this  direction, 
being  capable  of  using  articulate  language  and 
clearly  repeating  words  used  by  man. 

None  of  the  mammalia  possess  this  facility.  It 
is  not  found  in  the  apes,  and  probably  was  not 
possessed  by  the  ancestor  of  man.  But  it  is  not 
difficult  to  believe  that  in  the  efforts  of  the  lat- 
ter to  gain  a  greater  variety  of  vocal  utterance,  its 
organs  of  speech  became  more  flexible,  and  in 
time  it  gained  the  power  of  articulation. 


no  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

There  are  races  of  existing  men  whose  powers 
of  language  seem  still  in  the  transition  stage 
between  articulate  and  inarticulate  speech.  This 
seems  the  case  with  the  Bushmen  and  Hottentots 
of  South  Africa,  whose  vocal  utterances  consist 
largely  of  a  series  of  peculiar  clicks  that  are  cer- 
tainly not  articulate  speech,  though  on  the  road 
toward  it.  The  Pygmies  of  the  Central  African 
forests  seem  similarly  to  occupy  an  intermediate 
position  in  the  development  of  language.  Those 
who  have  endeavored  to  talk  with  them  speak  of 
their  utterance  as  being  inarticulate  in  sound.  It 
appears  to  be  a  sort  of  link  between  articulate  and 
inarticulate  speech.  In  short,  the  great  abyss 
which  was  of  old  thought  to  He  between  the  lan- 
guages of  man  and  the  lower  animals  has  largely 
vanished  through  the  labors  of  philologists,  and 
we  can  trace  stepping-stones  over  every  portion 
of  the  wide  gap.  The  language  of  man  has  not 
alone  been  evidently  a  product  of  evolution,  but 
also  one  of  development  from  the  vocal  utterances 
of  the  lower  animals ;  and  the  man-ape,  in  its  slow 
and  long  progress  from  brute  into  man,  seems  to 
have  gradually  developed  that  noble  instrument 
of  articulate  speech  which  has  had  so  much  to  do 
with  subsequent  human  progress. 


VIII 

HOW   THE   CHASM   WAS   BRIDGED 

In  his  bodily  formation  the  man-ape  differed 
little  from  man.  The  differences  which  existed 
were  probably  of  a  minor  character,  no  greater 
than  could  readily  exist  within  the  limits  of  a 
species.  If  this  assertion  be  questioned,  it  seems 
sufficient  to  call  attention  to  the  recent  researches 
into  the  anatomy  of  the  anthropoid  apes,  which 
differ  in  species,  if  not  in  genera,  from  man,  yet 
are  closely  similar  to  him  in  all  their  main  fea- 
tures of  organization.  Even  in  the  brain,  to  whose 
great  development  man  owes  his  superiority,  the 
only  marked  difference  is  in  size.  Structurally, 
the  distinctions  are  unimportant.  If,  then,  these 
distant  relatives  so  closely  resemble  man  in  phys- 
ical frame,  his  immediate  relative  in  the  line  of 
descent  must  have  approached  him  still  more 
closely  in  organization.  After  this  ancestor  had 
become  a  true,  surface-dwelling  biped,  the  differ- 
ences in  structure  were  probably  so  slight  that 
physically  the  two  forms  were  in  effect  identical. 
The  man-ape  was,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe, 
considerably  smaller  than  man,  perhaps  about 
equal  in  size  and  stature  to  the  chimpanzee,  but 

III 


112  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

that  does  not  constitute  a  specific  difference. 
There  may  have  been  some  differences  in  the 
skeletal  and  muscular  structure.  The  vocal  or- 
gans, for  instance,  probably  differed,  the  evolution 
of  language  in  man  being  accompanied  with  cer- 
tain changes  in  the  larynx.  The  skull  was  cer- 
tainly much  more  ape-like.  Yet  variations  of  this 
kind,  due  to  differences  in  mode  of  life,  are  minor 
in  importance,  and  may  easily  come  within  the 
limits  of  a  species.  While  the  great  features  of 
organization  remain  intact,  small  changes,  due  to 
new  exigencies  of  life,  may  take  place  without 
affecting  the  zoological  position  of  an  animal. 
The  most  striking  difference  between  man-ape 
and  man,  that  of  the  development  of  the  brain 
to  two  or  three  times  its  size  and  weight,  is  simi- 
larly unessential  in  classification  while  the  brain 
remains  unchanged  in  structure.  That  it  has 
remained  unchanged  we  may  safely  deduce  from 
the  close  similarity  between  the  brain  of  man  and 
those  of  the  existing  anthropoid  apes.  The  cause 
of  the  increase  in  size  is  so  evident  that  it  need 
only  be  referred  to.  Since  the  era  of  the  man-ape, 
almost  the  whole  sum  of  the  forces  of  development 
have  been  centred  in  the  mental  powers  of  this 
animal,  with  the  result  that  the  brain  has  grown  in 
size  and  functional  capacity,  while  the  remainder 
of  the  body  has  remained  practically  unchanged. 

That  man  as  an  animal  has  descended  from  the 
lower  life  realm,  none  who  are  familiar  with  the 


HOW   THE    CHASM   WAS  BRIDGED  1 13 

facts  of  science  now  think  of  denying.  This  has 
attained  to  the  scientist,  and  to  many  non-scientists, 
the  level  of  a  self-evident  proposition.  But  that 
man  as  a  thinking  being  has  descended  from  the 
lower  animals  is  a  different  matter,  concerning 
which  opinion  is  by  no  means  in  unison.  Even 
among  scientists  some  degree  of  difference  of 
opinion  exists,  and  such  a  radical  evolutionist  as 
Alfred  Russell  Wallace  finds  here  a  yawning  gap 
in  the  line  of  descent,  and  is  inclined  to  look  upon 
the  intellect  of  man  as  a  direct  gift  from  the 
realm  of  spirits.  His  explanation,  it  is  true,  is 
more  difficult  than  the  problem  itself.  There  are 
no  facts  to  sustain  it,  and  even  if  he  were  not  able 
to  see  how  man's  mind  could  be  developed  by  natu- 
ral selection,  it  is  a  sort  of  reductio  ad  absiirdiint  to 
call  in  the  angels  to  bridge  the  chasm. 

Romanes  has  dealt  with  the  subject  from  a  dif- 
ferent and  more  scientific  point  of  view,  and  seems 
to  have  succeeded  in  showing  that  man's  intellect 
at  its  lowest  level  is  not  different  in  kind  from  the 
brute  intellect  at  its  highest  level.  Controversy 
on  this  subject  is  too  apt  to  be  based  on  the  differ- 
ence between  the  intellect  of  the  brute  and  that  of 
enlightened  man,  in  disregard  of  the  great  mental 
gap  which  exists  between  the  latter  and  the  thought 
powers  of  the  lowest  savage.  In  the  preceding 
section  an  effort  was  made  to  show  how  crude  and 
imperfect  must  have  been  the  language  of  primi- 
tive man.  Its  imperfection  was  a  fair  gauge  of 
I 


114  M^^  A^^  HI^  ANCESTOR 

that  of  his  powers  of  thought.  His  intellect  stood 
at  a  very  low  level,  seemingly  no  further  above 
that  of  the  highest  apes  than  it  was  below  that  of 
enlightened  man. 

In  fact,  enormous  as  is  the  interval  between 
the  mind  of  the  brute  and  that  of  the  man  of 
modern  civilization,  the  whole  long  line  of  mental 
development  can  be  traced,  with  the  exception  of  a 
comparatively  small  interval.  This  is  the  gap  be- 
tween the  intellect  of  the  anthropoid  ape  and  that 
of  primitive  man,  the  one  important  last  chapter 
in  the  story  of  mental  evolution.  Supernaturalism, 
driven  from  its  strongholds  of  the  past,  has  taken 
its  last  stand  upon  this  broken  link,  claiming  that 
here  the  line  of  descent  fails,  and  that  the  gap 
could  not  have  been  filled  without  a  direct  inflow 
of  intellect  from  the  world  of  spirits  or  an  imme- 
diate act  of  creation  from  the  Deity. 

This  view  of  the  case  is  not  likely  to  be  accepted 
as  final.  Science  has  bridged  so  many  gaps  in 
the  kingdom  of  nature  that  it  is  not  likely  to  retire 
baffled  from  this  one,  but  will  continue  its  investi- 
gations in  place  of  accepting  conclusions  that  have 
not  the  standing  even  of  hypothesis,  since  they 
are  unsupported  by  a  single  known  fact.  At  first 
sight,  indeed,  the  facts  which  bear  upon  this  ques- 
tion seem  stubborn  things  to  explain  by  the  evo- 
lution theory.  The  gap  in  intellect  between  the 
highest  apes  and  the  lowest  man  is  a  considera- 
ble one,  which  no  existing  ape  seems  likely  ever  to 


HOW   THE   CHASM    WAS  BRIDGED  1 15 

cross.  However  the  anthropoid  apes  gained  their 
degree  of  mental  ability,  it  does  not  appear  to  be 
on  the  increase.  They  are  in  a  state  of  mental 
stagnation  and  may  have  remained  so  for  millions 
of  years.  Something  similar,  indeed,  can  be  said 
of  the  lowest  savages.  They  also  are  mentally 
stagnant.  The  indications  are  that  for  thousands, 
or  tens  of  thousands,  of  years  in  the  past  their 
intellectual  progress  has  been  almost  nothing.  Yet 
it  is  beyond  reasonable  question  that  the  advanced 
thinker  of  to-day  has  evolved  from  an  ancestor  as 
low  in  the  mental  scale  as  this  savage,  probably 
much  lower ;  and  this  renders  it  very  conceivable 
that  a  similar  process  of  evolution  covered  the 
interval  between  the  ape  intellect  and  that  of 
primitive  man. 

Somewhere,  at  some  time  in  the  far  past,  the 
mental  stagnation  of  man  was  broken,  and  the  de- 
velopment of  the  mind  began  its  long  progression 
toward  enlightenment.  This  was  not  in  the  local- 
ities in  which  the  lower  savages  are  now  found,  the 
equatorial  forests  of  Africa  and  South  America 
and  other  realms  of  savage  life,  the  change  in  all 
probability  taking  place  elsewhere,  under  new  and 
severe  exigencies  of  life.  Similarly  we  have  much 
justification  in  saying  that  somewhere,  at  some 
time,  the  mental  stagnation  of  the  ape  was  broken, 
and  the  long  development  of  the  mind  from  ape 
to  man  began.  This  did  not  take  place  in  the 
instances  of  the  existing  anthropoids,  and,  as  in  the 


Il6  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

analogous  case  of  civilized  man,  its  influencing 
cause  must  be  looked  for  in  exigencies  of  existence 
acting  upon  some  form  different  in  character  and 
habitat  from  these  apes. 

The  existing  anthropoid  apes  may  justly  be  com- 
pared in  condition  with  the  existing  low  savages. 
In  both  cases  a  satisfactory  adaptation  to  their 
situation  has  been  gained.  These  apes  are  still 
arboreal  and  frugivorous,  as  their  remote  ancestors 
were.  They  have  for  ages  been  in  a  state  of  close 
adaptation  to  their  life  conditions,  and  the  influ- 
ences of  development  have  been  largely  wanting. 
Such  evolution  as  took  place  must  have  been  ex- 
tremely slow.  In  like  manner  the  lowest  savages 
live  in  intimate  relations  with  the  conditions  sur- 
rounding them.  All  problems  of  food-getting,  habi- 
tation, climate,  etc.,  have  long  since  been  solved, 
and  in  the  tropical  forests  in  which  so  many  of 
them  dwell  they  are  in  thorough  accord  with  the 
situation.  Mentally,  therefore,  they  are  practically 
at  a  standstill  and  have  remained  so  for  thousands 
of  years.  The  two  cases  are  parallel  ones.  We 
can  safely  say  that  the  later  development  of  man 
took  place  in  other  situations  and  under  other  con- 
ditions. We  may  fairly  say  the  same  in  regard 
to  the  ape.  Vigorous  influences  must  have  been 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  ancestor  of  man  as  the 
instigating  causes  of  its  mental  development  into 
man ;  and  similarly  vigorous  influences  must  have 
been  brought  to  bear  upon  primitive  man  to  set  in 


HOW  THE   CHASM   WAS  BRIDGED  ii/ 

train  his  mental  development  into  intellectual  man. 
And  the  general  character  of  these  influences  in 
both  cases  may  readily  be  pointed  out.  An  ex- 
traordinary development  has  taken  place  in  the 
human  intellect  within  a  few  thousands,  or  tens  of 
thousands,  of  years,  yielding  the  difference  which 
exists  between  the  cultivated  man  of  to-day  and 
the  debased  savage  who  probably  preceded  him, 
and  whose  counterpart  still  exists.  This  has  un- 
doubtedly been  due  to  influences  of  the  highest 
potency.  If  we  can  show  that  influences  of  equal 
potency  acted  upon  man's  ancestor,  we  shall  have 
done  much  toward  indicating  how  the  ape  brain 
may  have  grown  into  the  brain  of  man. 

In  both  cases  the  main  agency  was  in  all  proba- 
bility that  of  conflict.  Both  ape  and  man,  as  we 
take  it,  developed  through  some  form  of  warfare. 
In  the  former  case  it  was  warfare  with  the  ani- 
mal kingdom  ;  in  the  latter  it  was  warfare  with  the 
conditions  of  nature  and  with  hostile  man.  Each 
of  these  has  been  potent  in  its  effects,  and  to  each 
we  owe  the  completion  of  a  great  stage  in  the  evo- 
lution of  man. 

In  the  tropics,  the  home  of  the  anthropoid  apes 
of  to-day  and,  probably,  of  the  animal  we  have 
named  the  man-ape,  war  between  man  and  nature 
scarcely  exists.  Nature  is  not  hostile  to  man. 
There  is  no  occasion  for  clothing  and  little  for 
habitation.  Food  is  abundant  for  the  sparse  popu- 
lations.    Little   exertion    is   called    for   to  sustain 


Il8  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

life.  Mental  stagnation  is  very  likely  to  supervene. 
Yet  there,  as  elsewhere,  conflict  has  had  much  to 
do  with  such  mental  progress  as  exists.  Mastery 
in  warfare  is  due  to  superior  mental  resources, 
which  gradually  arise  from  the  exigencies  of  con- 
flict, and  manifest  themselves  in  greater  shrewd- 
ness or  cunning,  superior  ability  in  leadership, 
better  organization,  fuller  mutual  aid,  and  the 
invention  of  more  destructive  weapons  and  more 
efficient  tools.  War  acts  vigorously  on  men's 
minds,  peace  acts  sluggishly.  In  the  former  case 
man's  most  valued  possession,  his  life,  is  in  jeop- 
ardy, and  his  utmost  powers  are  .exerted  for  its 
preservation.  Every  resource  within  his  power  is 
brought  to  bear  to  save  himself  from  wounds  or 
death  and  to  destroy  his  enemies.  If  the  foes  are 
equal  physically,  victory  is  apt  to  come  to  those 
which  are  superior  mentally,  which  are  quicker  at 
devising  new  expedients,  more  alert  in  providing 
against  danger,  more  skilful  in  the  use  of  weapons, 
abler  in  combining  their  forces  to  act  in  unison. 
In  short,  the  whole  story  of  mankind  tells  us  that 
mental  evolution  has  been  greatly  aided  by  the 
influences  of  warfare,  the  reaction  upon  the  mind 
of  the  effort  at  self-preservation,  the  destruction  of 
those  at  a  lower  level  of  intellectual  alertness,  the 
preservation  of  the  abler  and  more  energetic,  the 
effect  of  conflict  in  bringing  into  activity  all  the  re- 
sources of  the  intellect,  and  the  hereditary  trans- 
mission of  the  powers  of  mind  thus  developed.     It 


HOW   THE    CHASM   WAS  BRIDGED  II9 

is,  undoubtedly,  to  war  between  man  and  man, 
and  the  conflict  with  the  adverse  conditions  of 
nature  in  the  colder  regions  of  the  earth,  that 
man's  development  from  his  lowest  to  his  highest 
intellectual  state  has  been  largely  due.  This  is 
by  no  means  to  say  that  war  is  still  necessary  for 
this  result.  Other  influences  are  now  at  work, 
of  equal  or  superior  potency,  and  while  the  con- 
flict with  nature  and  the  conditions  of  society  is 
still  of  importance,  war  between  man  and  man  is 
no  longer  necessary  as  a  mental  stimulant.  The 
time  was,  and  that  not  very  far  in  the  past,  when 
it  was  an  essential  element  in  human  development. 
If  we  descend  to  the  lowest  existing  savages, 
however,  it  is  to  find  this  agency  almost  non-exist- 
ent. We  can  perceive  in  them  no  organized  war- 
fare and  no  alert  conflict  with  nature.  They  are 
as  yet  at  the  very  beginning  of  this  stage  of  evo- 
lution, and  it  certainly  exerts  little  influence  upon 
them.  Nature  is  not  adverse,  life  needs  little 
thought  or  exertion,  they  accept  the  world  as  they 
find  it,  without  question  or  revolt,  and  their 
thoughts  and  habits  are  as  unchangeable  as  the 
laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  But  the  fact 
that  active  warfare  does  not  now  exist  among  the 
lowest  tribes  of  mankind,  does  not  argue  that  such 
a  state  has  never  existed.  In  truth,  we  maintain 
that  primitive  man  is  the  outcome  of  an  active  and 
long-continued  warfare,  and  that  his  settled  and 
sluggish  condition  to-day  is  the  ease  that  follows 


120  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

victory.     He  has  conquered  and  is  at  rest  after  his 
labors. 

For  if  we  compare  primitive  man  with  the  an- 
thropoid apes,  it  is  to  find  one  striking  and  impor- 
tant difference  between  them.  The  anthropoids  are 
at  a  level  in  position  with  their  animal  neighbors. 
Man  is  lord  and  master  of  the  animal  kingdom, 
the  dominant  being  in  the  world  of  life.  He  has 
no  rival  in  this  lordship,  but  stands  alone  in  his 
relation  to  the  animal  kingdom.  He  is  feared  and 
avoided  by  the  largest  and  strongest  beasts  of  field 
and  forest.  He  does  not  fight  defensively,  but 
offensively,  and  whatever  his  relation  to  his  fel- 
low-man, he  admits  no  equal  in  the  world  of  life 
below  him.  He  is  the  only  animal  that  has  made  a 
struggle  for  lordship.  The  gorilla  is  said  to  attack 
the  lion  and  drive  it  from  its  haunts.  If  it  does 
so,  it  is  not  with  any  desire  for  mastery,  but  simply 
to  rid  itself  of  a  dangerous  neighbor.  The  battle 
for  dominion  has  been  confined  to  man,  and  in  the 
winning  of  it  no  small  degree  of  mental  develop- 
ment must  have  taken  place. 

The  supremacy  of  man  was  not  gained  without 
a  struggle,  and  that  a  severe  and  protracted  one. 
The  animal  kingdom  did  not  yield  readily  to  man's 
lordship,  and  the  war  must  have  been  long  and  bitter, 
settled  as  the  relations  now  seem.  Rest  has  suc- 
ceeded victory.  The  lower  animals  are  now  sub- 
missive to  man,  or  retire  before  him  in  dread  of  his 
strength  and  resources,  and  the  strain  upon  his 


HOW   THE   CHASM   WAS  BRIDGED  121 

powers  has  ceased.  So  far  as  this  phase  of  evolu- 
tion is  concerned  the  influences  aiding  the  mental 
development  of  man  have  lost  their  strength.  The 
warfare  is  over,  and  man  reigns  supreme  over  the 
kingdom  of  life. 

Of  all  animals  the  man-ape  was  the  best  adapted 
for  such  a  struggle.  The  other  anthropoid  apes, 
while  favored  by  the  formation  of  their  hands, 
lacked  that  freedom  of  the  arms  to  which  man 
mainly  owes  his  success.  No  other  animal  has 
ever  appeared  with  arms  freed  from  duty  in  loco- 
motion and  at  the  same  time  endued  with  the 
power  of  grasping,  and  these  are  the  features  of 
organization  to  which  the  evolution  of  the  human 
intellect  was  wholly  due  in  its  first  stages.  The 
man-ape  was  not  able  to  contend  successfully  with 
the  larger  animals  by  aid  of  its  natural  weapons. 
Its  diminutive  size,  its  lack  of  tearing  claws,  and 
its  lesser  powers  of  speed,  left  it  at  a  disadvantage, 
and  had  it  attempted  to  conquer  by  the  aid  of  its 
strength  and  the  seizing  and  rending  powers  of 
teeth  and  nails,  its  victory  over  the  larger  animals 
would  never  have  been  won.  Even  with  the  aid  of 
the  cunning  and  alertness  of  the  apes,  their  power 
of  observation,  their  combination  for  defence  and 
attack,  and  their  general  mental  superiority  to  the 
tenants  of  the  animal  world,  their  supremacy  in 
the  event  of  their  becoming  carnivorous  must 
have  been  confined  to  the  smaller  creatures,  and 
could  not  have  been  established  over  the  larger 


122  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

animals  of  their  native  habitat  except  through  the 
aid  of  other  than  their  natural  powers. 

It  was  by  the  use  of  artificial  weapons  that  the 
conquest  was  gained.  The  tendency  to  use  mis- 
siles as  weapons  of  offence  and  defence,  which  is 
shown  by  various  species  of  monkeys,  was  in  all 
probability  greatly  developed  by  the  man-ape,  the 
only  carnivorous  member,  if  our  premises  are  cor- 
rect, of  the  whole  extensive  family  of  the  apes, 
and  the  only  one  with  the  free  use  of  its  hands 
and  arms.  By  the  use  of  weapons  of  this  kind  the 
powers  of  offence  of  this  animal  were  enormously 
increased.  As  skill  was  acquired  in  their  use,  and 
more  efficient  weapons  were  selected  or  formed, 
the  man-ape  steadily  advanced  in  controlling  influ- 
ence, and  the  lower  animal  world  became  more  and 
more  subordinated.  No  doubt  the  struggle  was  a 
protracted  one.  The  previously  dominant  animals 
did  not  submit  without  a  severe  and  long-continued 
contest.  Thousands  of  years  may  have  passed 
before  the  larger  animals  were  subdued,  for  it  is 
probable  that  the  invention  of  superior  weapons 
by  an  animal  of  low  mental  powers  was  a  very 
slow  process.  Each  stage  of  invention  gave  higher 
success,  but  these  stages  were  very  deliberate  ones. 

However  this  be,  we  can  be  assured  that  the 
superiority  of  the  ancestral  man  lay  in  his  mental 
resources,  and  that  his  victory  was  due  to  the 
employment  of  his  mind  rather  than  of  his  body. 
As  a  result,  the  developing  influence  of  the  conflict 


HOW   THE    CHASM    WAS  BRIDGED  123 

was  exerted  upon  his  brain,  the  organ  of  the  mind, 
far  more  than  upon  his  physical  frame,  and  this 
organ  gradually  increased  in  size,  while  the  body 
as  a  whole  remained  practically  unchanged.  The 
conflict  began  with  the  man-ape  on  a  level  in 
power  and  dominance  with  animals  of  its  own  size 
and  inferior  to  those  of  greater  size  and  strength. 
It  ended  with  man  dominant  over  all  the  lower 
animals.  Such  a  progress,  if  made  by  any  animal 
through  variation  in  physical  structure,  must  have 
caused  radical  and  extraordinary  changes  in  size, 
strength,  and  utility  of  the  natural  organs  of  of- 
fence. If  made,  as  in  the  instance  in  question, 
through  development  of  the  organ  of  the  mind 
alone,  it  could  not  but  have  produced  a  great  in- 
crease in  the  size  and  power  of  this  organ;  and  the 
dimensions  of  the  brain  in  primitive  man,  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  brain  in  the  anthropoid 
apes,  do  not  seem  too  great  for  the  magnitude 
of  the  result. 

The  conflict  ended,  a  new  animal,  man,  finally 
and  fully  emerged  from  the  family  of  the  apes  and 
settled  down  in  the  restful  consciousness  of  vic- 
tory, with  a  much  larger  brain  and  greatly  superior 
mental  powers  than  were  possessed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  struggle,  yet  in  physical  aspect  not 
greatly  changed  from  his  ancestral  form  after  it 
had  first  fully  gained  the  erect  attitude.  The 
powers  gained  enabled  early  man  easily  to  hold 
the  position  he  had  won,  and  there  was  no  further 


124  ^^^^  ^^^   ^^^  ANCESTOR 

special  strain  upon  his  faculties  until  a  new  con- 
test began,  that  between  man  and  nature,  supple- 
mented by  a  still  more  vital  struggle,  that  between 
man  and  man. 

To  return  to  the  point  from  which  we  set  out, 
it  may  be  said  that,  as  the  man-ape  gained  facility 
in  walking  in  the  erect  attitude,  and  its  hands 
and  arms  became  fully  adapted  to  the  use  of 
weapons,  its  standing  in  the  animal  kingdom 
changed  essentially  from  that  before  held.  Fear 
and  flight  ended,  retreat  ceased,  attack  began, 
pursuit  succeeded  flight,  and  the  great  battle  for 
mastery  entered  upon  its  long  course.  An  element 
which  aided  materially  in  the  victory  was  the  social 
habit  of  the  animal  in  question,  and  the  mutual  aid 
which  the  members  of  any  group  gave  one  an- 
other. Educative  influences  also  naturally  follow 
association,  every  invention  or  improvement  de- 
vised by  one  becomes  the  property  of  the  whole, 
and  nothing  of  importance  once  gained  is  lost. 

The  stages  of  this  progress  were,  undoubtedly, 
in  their  outer  aspect,  stages  of  improvement  in 
weapons.  We  seem  to  see  ancestral  man,  in  his 
early  career  as  a  carnivorous  animal,  seizing  the 
stones  and  sticks  that  came  readily  to  hand,  and 
flinging  them  with  some  little  skill  at  his  prey,  in 
the  same  manner  as  we  can  perceive  the  baboon 
doing  the  same  thing.  In  like  manner  we  observe 
him  breaking  off  branches  from  the  trees  and  using 
them  as  clubs.     One  of  the  first  steps  of  develop- 


HOW    THE    CHASM    WAS  BRIDGED  1 25 

ment  from  this  crude  stage  in  the  use  of  weapons 
would  be  the  selection  of  stones  suited  by  size  and 
shape  for  throwing,  and  the  choice  of  clubs  of 
suitable  length  and  thickness,  the  latter  being 
stripped  of  their  twigs. 

For  a  long  time  fresh  weapons,  those  immedi- 
ately at  hand,  would  be  seized  and  used  for  every 
new  conflict ;  but  as  the  idea  of  the  superiority  of 
some  weapons  to  others  arose,  a  second  stage  of 
evolution  must  have  begun.  The  selected  club, 
broken  from  the  tree  and  prepared  for  use  with 
some  care,  and  thus  embodying  a  degree  of  choice 
and  labor,  would  be  too  valuable  to  fling  idly  away, 
and  might  be  retained  for  future  use,  the  first 
personal  possession  of  inchoate  man.  Similarly, 
stones  carefully  chosen  for  their  suitability  for 
throwing  would  be  probably  kept,  and  a  small 
store  of  them  collected.  In  short,  we  may  con- 
ceive of  the  man-ape  thus  gathering  a  maga- 
zine of  weapons,  —  clubs  and  stones,  —  sought  or 
shaped  during  hours  of  leisure  for  use  in  hours 
of  conflict.  In  this  way  our  animal  ancestor 
doubtless  slowly  became  a  skilful  hunter,  carrying 
his  weapons  with  him  in  the  chase,  and  using  them 
efficiently  in  the  conquest  of  prey. 

A  third  stage  in  this  progress  was  reached  when 
to  some  wise-headed  old  man-ape  came  the  idea 
of  combining  the  two  forms  of  weapon  in  use,  of 
fastening  in  some  way  the  stone  to  the  club  in 
order  that  a  more  effective  blow  might  be  struck. 


126  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

The  vegetable  kingdom  furnishes  natural  cords, 
flat  stones  with  more  or  less  cutting  edges  could 
be  chosen  and  bound  to  the  end  of  the  club,  and 
the  earliest  form  of  the  battle-axe  would  be  pro- 
duced. With  its  formation  the  man-ape  made  an- 
other important  step  of  progress  and  added  greatly 
to  his  powers  of  offence.  Stage  by  stage  he  was 
bringing  his  animal  competitors  under  his  control. 

The  formation  of  an  axe  or  hatchet,  however 
crude  it  may  have  been,  would  naturally  lead  to 
another  step  in  advance.  With  it  the  ancestral  man 
had  passed  beyond  the  possession  of  a  weapon  into 
the  possession  of  a  tool.  The  shaping  of  his  clubs 
previously  had  been  done  by  a  rude  tearing  or 
hammering  off  of  their  twigs.  These  could  now 
be  cut  off,  and  in  addition  the  club  might  be 
wrought  into  a  better  shape.  Manufacture  had 
begun.  Our  ancestor  stood  at  one  end  of  a  long 
line,  at  the  other  end  of  which  we  behold  the 
steam-engine,  the  electric  motor,  and  an  intermina- 
ble variety  of  other  instruments. 

Primitive  manufacture  was  not  confined  to  the 
shaping  of  wood.  The  shaping  of  stone  followed 
in  due  time.  If  a  tree  branch  could  be  made  more 
suitable  for  its  purpose  by  cutting  it  into  shape  with 
a  rude  stone  axe  or  hatchet,  a  stone  of  better  shape 
might  be  obtained  by  hammering.  Doubtless  the 
chipping  effect  of  striking  stone  upon  stone  had 
been  often  observed  before  the  idea  arose  that  this 
could  be  made  useful,  and  that  where  stones  of  the 


HOW   THE    CHASM    WAS  BRIDGED  12/ 

desired  shape  were  not  to  be  found,  the  shape  of 
those  at  hand  might  in  this  way  be  improved. 

If  we  seek  for  some  turning-point,  some  stage 
of  progress,  in  which  the  man-ape  fairly  emerged 
into  man,  perhaps  it  would  be  well  to  select  that 
which  we  have  now  reached,  that  in  which  the 
animal  in  question,  which  had  hitherto  used  the 
objects  of  nature  in  their  natural  form,  first  gained 
the  idea  of  manufacture  and  began  to  shape  these 
objects  by  the  use  of  tools.  In  truth,  the  dividing 
line  between  man-ape  and  man  was  imperceptibly 
fine.  Various  points  of  demarcation  might  be 
chosen,  each  founded  on  some  important  step  in 
evolution.  But  among  them  all  that  in  which  the 
effort  to  convert  the  objects  of  nature  into  better 
weapons  by  the  use  of  tools  is  perhaps  the  best, 
as  it  was  probably  the  first  step  in  that  long  pro- 
cess of  manufacture  to  which  man  owes  his  wonder- 
ful advance. 

With  this  early  effort  at  manufacture,  man  had 
reached  a  stage  in  which  he  was  first  able  to  make 
a  permanent  record  of  his  existence  upon  the  earth 
—  aside  from  that  of  the  very  infrequent  preser- 
vation of  his  bones  as  fossil  remains.  A  chipped 
stone  is  a  permanent  object.  Even  a  very  rudely 
shaped  one  bears  some  indications  of  its  origin 
upon  its  surface,  some  marks  pointing  back  to 
man  in  his  early  days.  Unfortunately  for  an- 
thropologists, natural  agencies  sometimes  produce 
effects  resembling  those  achieved  by  man's  hands, 


128  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

» 

and  some  degree  of  skill  in  manufacture  and  well- 
marked  design  is  necessary  before  one  can  be  sure 
that  a  seeming  stone  weapon  has  not  been  shaped 
by  nature  instead  of  man.  Within  a  recent  period 
research  for  the  evidence  of  early  man  in  the  shape 
of  chipped  stones  has  been  diligently  made,  with 
an  abundance  of  undoubted  and  a  number  of  doubt- 
ful results.  Some  of  these  reach  very  far  back  in 
time,  and  if  actually  the  work  of  man  he  must  have 
lived  upon  the  earth  as  a  manufacturing  animal  for 
years  that  may  be  numbered  by  the  million.  Seem- 
ingly chipped  stones  have  been  found  that  belong 
to  the  remote  Miocene  geological  age.  With  the 
latter  are  some  scratches  upon  bones  that  also  seem 
the  work  of  tools.  But  these  Miocene  relics  are 
questionable.  They  do  not  seem  to  surpass  the 
shaping  power  of  nature  herself.  Unless  some 
more  indubitable  relics  are  found,  we  must  place 
the  advent  of  man  as  a  tool-using  animal  at  a 
much  later  date.  How  far  back  he  may  have 
existed  as  a  man-like  biped  is  another  question, 
which  we  are  not  likely  soon  to  solve. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  pursue  this  branch 
of  our  subject  farther.  We  have  reached  one  end 
of  a  line  of  development,  the  succeeding  course  of 
which  is  well  known.  From  the  earliest  rudely 
chipped  stones  and  flints  that  are  certainly  the 
work  of  man,  we  can  easily  trace  his  progress  up- 
ward through  better  examples  of  the  chipped  and 
later  through  those  of   the  polished  stone  imple- 


HOW   THE    CHASM    WAS  BRIDGED  129 

ment,  until  the  age  of  metal  began.  And  with 
these  stones  have  been  found  many  other  indica- 
tions of  the  progressing  powers  of  man,  in  the 
shaping  of  bone,  the  invention  and  use  of  a  con- 
siderable variety  of  implements  and  ornaments, 
and  the  earliest  efforts  of  art,  as  stated  in  a  pre- 
ceding section.  There  is  no  occasion  to  go  into 
the  detail  of  these  steps  of  progress.  When  they 
are  reached,  this  section  of  our  work  ends.  We 
are  concerned  here  simply  with  man's  ancestor 
and  man  in  his  earliest  stage  of  existence,  not  with 
man  in  his  later  course  of  development. 


IX 

THE   FIRST   STAGE   OF   HUMAN   EVOLUTION 

The  question  has  often  been  asked,  if  man  has 
descended  from  an  ape  ancestor  why  is  it  that  no 
traces  of  this  ancestral  form  have  been  found  in  a 
fossil  state  ?  If  man  has  gone  through  such  an 
extended  course  of  development,  why  has  he  left 
no  remains  ?  This  question,  looked  upon  as  unan- 
swerable by  many  of  those  who  ask  it,  is  really 
of  minor  importance.  A  half-dozen  answers,  each 
of  considerable  weight,  could  easily  be  made  to  it. 
In  the  first  place,  it  may  be  said  that  the  absence 
of  remains  referred  to  is  far  from  a  single  instance, 
but  one  out  of  thousands.  It  is  generally  admitted 
that  the  species  of  animals  found  fossil  are  very 
far  from  representing  all  the  species  that  have 
existed  upon  the  earth,  and  probably  form  but  a 
minute  percentage  of  them.  In  the  second  place, 
the  remains  of  man's  ancestor  have  not  been 
sought  for  in  its  native  locality,  the  tropical  re- 
gions. In  the  third  place,  man  belongs  to  the 
class  of  animals  least  likely  to  be  preserved  in  the 
fossil  state,  since  they  dwell  in  the  depths  of  for- 
ests and  at  a  distance  from  the  lakes  and  streams 

in  whose  muddy  bottoms  the  remains  of  so  many 

130 


FIRST  STAGE    OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      131 

animals  have  been  fossilized.  Another  answer  is, 
that  of  the  various  species  of  anthropoid  apes  that 
probably  existed  in  the  past,  a  few  relics  only  of 
a  single  species  have  been  found.  If  there  were 
this  one  species  alone,  its  number  of  individuals 
must  have  reached  into  the  millions,  yet  of  those 
hosts  only  a  few  fugitive  bones  are  known  to  exist. 
There  could  not  well  be  a  more  striking  instance 
of  the  imperfection  of  the  geological  record.  The 
sparse  remains  of  Dryopithecus,  the  species  in 
question,  with  some  few  other  fossils  of  doubt- 
fully anthropoid  species,  save  us  from  a  total  blank, 
and  open  the  vista  to  a  myriad  of  active  arboreal 
creatures  which  had  their  dwelling-place  in  the 
old-time  European  forests,  but  have  almost  utterly 
vanished  from  human  knowledge. 

These  are  not  the  only  answers  that  can  be  made 
to  the  question  propounded.  Though  the  bones 
of  the  man-ape  have  not  been  found,  relics  of 
several  stages  of  developing  man  exist.  Most 
significant  among  these,  until  recently,  was  the 
celebrated  Neanderthal  skull,  which  in  facial 
aspect  departs  widely  from  the  ordinary  human 
and  approaches  the  simian  type.  More  signifi- 
cant still  is  the  Pithecanthropus  cranium,  indicative 
of  an  animal  that  stood  midway  between  man  and 
ape,  a  creature  fully  erect  in  posture,  as  its  thigh 
bone  proves,  but  with  a  brain  that  had  attained  but 
the  halfway  stage  of  development.  In  this  nota- 
ble find  we  seem  to  see  man  in  the  making,  the 


132  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

body  already  fully  man-like,  the  brain  advanced 
much  beyond  the  stage  of  the  ape  intellect,  but 
still  far  below  that  of  man.  It  is  the  remnant  of  a 
creature  significantly  on  the  dividing  line  between 
man-ape  and  man. 

So  much  for  the  response  to  the  question  as 
hitherto  made.  As  the  case  stands,  we  are  not 
obliged  to  stop  at  this  point.  Within  the  latter 
section  of  the  nineteenth  century  discoveries  have 
been  made  which  fit  in  admirably  with  our  argu- 
ment. Rediscoveries,  perhaps,  we  should  call  them, 
for  they  were  imperfectly  known  in  ancient  times, 
but  only  recently  have  they  fairly  come  within 
human  ken.  We  refer  to  the  Pygmy  tribes  of  the 
African  forests,  not  definitely  offered  hitherto  as 
aids  to  the  elucidation  of  this  problem,  yet  which 
seem  to  adapt  themselves  closely  to  it,  and  cer- 
tainly help  essentially  in  filling  the  gap  between 
civilized  man  and  his  ape-like  ancestor. 

We  have  already  said  that  there  appear  to  have 
been  two  separate  and  distinct  stages  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  man :  one,  that  of  his  conflict  with  the 
animal  world,  ending  in  his  mastery  of  the  brute 
creation  ;  the  second  that  of  his  conflict  with  nature, 
ending  in  his  mastery  of  the  resources  of  the  earth. 
Overlapping  and  succeeding  the  second  there  has 
been  a  third,  that  of  the  conflict  of  man  with  man, 
ending  in  the  survival  of  the  fittest  of  the  human 
race.  In  the  discussion  of  this  problem,  as 
hitherto  made,  these  distinct  stages  of  evolution. 


FIRST  STAGE    OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION 


133 


with  their  intermediate  resting  stages,  have  not 
been  recognized  ;  argument  being  based  on  man 
as  a  whole,  and  no  thought  directed  to  the  pos- 
sibility that  existing  man  may  represent  several 
separate  processes  of  development,  with  broad 
lapses  between.  The  argument  we  propose  to 
offer  is  that  man  as  he  was  at  the  completion  of 
his  first  stage,  that  of  the  subjugation  of  the  ani- 
mal world,  and  before  the  beginning  of  the  conflict 
with  nature,  still  exists,  the  first  derivation  from 
the  man-ape,  living  in  the  location  and  possessing 
much  of  the  appearance  and  many  of  the  habits  of 
this  ancestral  form. 

Late  travellers  in  Africa  have  found  more  than 
trees  and  streams  in  the  forest  depths.  They  have 
found  there  a  distinct  and  peculiar  race  of  men, 
negro-like  in  many  particulars,  yet  differing  from 
the  negroes  in  others,  and  specially  marked  by  their 
dwarfish  stature,  which  is  indicated  in  the  name  of 
Pygmies,  usually  given  them.  These  diminutive 
beings  were  known  as  long  ago  as  the  days  of 
Homer,  and  their  legendary  combats  with  the 
cranes  are  spoken  of  by  him  in  his  poems.  He  was 
not  aware  of  what  is  known  now,  that  these  forests 
dwarfs  would  disdain  the  cranes  as  antagonists,  and 
are  quite  capable  of  overcoming  the  lordly  elephant. 
In  truth,  they  know  no  equals  in  the  forest,  and, 
while  destitute  of  any  knowledge  of  agriculture,  are 
the  most  skilful,  considering  the  primitive  charac- 
ter of  their  weapons,  of  the  hunters  of  the  earth. 


134  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

The  forest  is  the  home  of  the  Pygmy,  as  in  all 
probability  it  was  of  the  man-ape.  He  dwells  in 
its  deepest  recesses,  its  moist  and  sultry  depths, 
and  pines  when  removed  from  his  native  realm  in 
the  heart  of  the  tropic  woods.  In  truth,  he  is 
almost  as  fully  arboreal  as  was  his  tree-dwelling 
ancestor  and  as  are  his  forest  relatives,  the  anthro- 
poid apes  of  to-day;  not  inhabiting  the  limbs  of 
trees,  indeed,  but  living  under  their  shade,  and 
forming  the  true  man  of  the  woodland,  the  nomad 
hunters  of  the  vast  equatorial  forests.  It  must  be 
said,  however,  that  this  is  not  wholly  the  case. 
There  are  tribes  seemingly  belonging  to  this  race 
in  South  Africa  who  dwell  in  the  open  desert,  but 
retain  there,  in  great  measure,  the  habits  of  their 
forest  kin. 

The  first  of  modern  travellers  to  see  the  Pygmies 
was  Du  Chaillu,  in  his  journey  through  the  Afri- 
can woodlands  in  1867.  He  describes  them  as 
averaging  four  feet  seven  inches  in  height,  their 
complexion  of  a  pale  yellow  brown,  the  hair  of 
their  head  short,  but  their  bodies  covered  with  a 
thick  growth  of  hair,  as  if  the  loss  of  their  ances- 
tral covering  had  not  been  completed.  The  tribe 
seen  by  him  was  known  as  the  Obongo,  and  dwelt 
in  Ashango  Land,  occupying  the  forest  region 
between  the  Gaboon  and  the  Congo. 

Dr.  Schweinfurth,  whose  exploration  extended 
from  1868  to  1870,  was  the  next  to  meet  these 
nomads  of  the  forests,  of  whom  he  has  given  an 


FIRST  STAGE   OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      1 35 

interesting  description  in  his  "  Heart  of  Africa." 
He  met  with  them  in  the  country  of  the  Manbut- 
too,  on  the  Welle  River,  between  three  degrees 
and  four  degrees  north  latitude.  The  tribe  seen 
by  him,  known  as  the  Akka,  was  made  up  of  very 
diminutive  individuals,  none  being  over  four  feet 
ten  inches  high,  and  some  only  four  feet.  Their 
bodies  were  in  due  proportion  to  their  height,  so 
that  they  resembled  half-grown  boys  in  size. 

The  Akkas,  as  described  by  him,  have  large 
heads,  huge  ears,  and  very  prognathous  faces. 
Their  arms  are  long  and  lank,  the  chest  fiat  and 
narrow,  widening  below  to  support  a  huge  hanging 
abdomen,  the  legs  short  and  bandy,  and  the  walk 
a  waddling  motion,  there  being  a  sort  of  lurch  with 
each  step.  In  this  latter  respect  they  recall  the 
gibbon  in  its  effort  to  walk.  The  gaping  aspect 
of  the  mouth  has  a  suggestive  resemblance  to  that 
of  the  ape.  They  are  also  ape-like  in  their  inces- 
sant play  of  countenance,  twitching  of  eyebrows, 
rapid  gestures  of  hands  and  feet,  nodding  and  wag- 
ging of  the  head,  and  remarkable  agility.  Their 
skin  is  of  a  dull  brown  color,  ""  like  partly  roasted 
coffee,"  and  destitute  of  the  covering  of  hair  seen 
by  Du  Chaillu  on  the  Obongos.  The  hair  of  the 
head  and  the  beard  is  scanty  and  of  woolly  tex- 
ture. 

Stanley,  who  frequently  met  those  forest  dwarfs 
in  his  expedition  for  the  relief  of  Emin  Pacha, 
gives  much  information  concerning  them  in   his 


136  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

*'  In  Darkest  Africa."  He  found,  indeed,  two 
types  of  dwarfs,  one  the  Wambutti,  who  were  of 
attractive  aspect,  having  large,  round  eyes,  full  and 
prominent  round  faces  with  broad  foreheads,  jaws 
slightly  prognathous,  hands  and  feet  small,  figures 
well  formed  though  diminutive,  and  complexion  of 
a  brick  red  hue.  The  other  type,  the  Akka,  he 
describes  as  having  "  small,  cunning,  monkey  eyes, 
close  and  deeply  set."  One  woman  described  by 
him  had  "  protruding  lips  overhanging  her  chin,  a 
prominent  abdomen,  narrow  flat  chest,  sloping 
shoulders,  long  arms,  feet  strongly  turned  inward, 
and  very  short  lower  legs."  She  was  "certainly 
deserving  of  being  classed  as  an  extremely  low, 
degraded,  almost  a  bestial  type  of  a  human  being." 
The  language  of  the  Akka  is  of  a  very  undeveloped 
type,  and  seems  a  link  between  articulate  and 
inarticulate  speech. 

Stanley,  in  his  journey  down  the  Congo,  heard 
many  stories  of  the  forest  dwarfs,  who  were 
described  to  him  as  a  yard  high,  with  long  beards 
and  large  heads.  Other  traditional  accounts  of 
them  similarly  speak  of  their  long  beards,  though 
Stanley  saw  none  answering  to  this  description. 
The  first  individual  seen  by  him  in  this  journey 
was  four  feet  six  and  a  half  inches  high,  and  meas- 
ured thirty  inches  round  the  chest.  He  was  of  a 
light  chocolate  color,  with  a  thin  fringe  of  whiskers, 
his  legs  bowed  and  with  thin  shanks,  the  calf 
being  undeveloped.     His  body  was  covered  with  a 


FIRST  STAGE   OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      1 37 

thick,  fur-like  hair,  nearly  half  an  inch  long,  in 
this  respect  agreeing  with  those  described  by 
Du  Chaillu. 

The  Batwas,  seen  and  measured  by  Dr.  Ludwig 
Wolfe  in  the  middle  Congo  basin  in  1886,  were  of 
an  average  height  of  four  feet  three  inches.  They 
resemble  the  Akka  in  general  appearance,  and 
have  longish  heads,  long  narrow  faces,  and  small 
reddish  eyes.  They  bounded  through  the  tall 
herbage  "  Hke  grasshoppers  "  and  were  remarkably 
agile  in  climbing. 

For  several  years  past  there  have  been  rumors 
of  a  race  of  Pygmies  in  the  interior  of  the  Came- 
roons,  but  these  reports  were  not  verified  until  the 
year  1898,  when  the  Bulu  expedition  of  the  Ger- 
man military  force  succeeded,  with  much  difficulty, 
in  seeing  several  individuals  of  this  race,  secured 
through  the  aid  of  a  native  chief.  One  woman 
was  measured  and  proved  to  be  just  four  feet  high. 
The  color  was  from  chocolate-brown  to  copperish, 
except  the  palms,  which  were  of  a  yellowish  white. 
The  hair  was  deep  black,  thick,  and  frizzled ;  the 
skull  broad  and  high ;  the  lips  full  and  swollen. 
Like  other  Pygmy  tribes,  these  are  very  shy, 
wandering  from  place  to  place  in  the  forest,  and 
avoiding  frequented  routes  of  travel.  They  are 
skilful  hunters  and  collect  much  rubber,  which 
they  dispose  of  to  the  negro  tribes. 

In  the  same  year  Mr.  Albert  B.  Lloyd  made  a 
journey    in   Central    Africa,   following    Stanley's 


138  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

route  down  the  Congo.  He  was  alone,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  carriers,  and  had  the  good 
fortune  of  passing  through  the  country  of  the 
Pygmies  and  that  of  the  cannibals  of  the  Aruwimi 
without  conflict  or  injury,  entering  into  cordial 
relations  with  both  peoples.  He  journeyed  for 
three  weeks  in  the  Pygmy  forest  and  had  excellent 
opportunities  for  examining  its  inhabitants. 

After  entering  the  great  primeval  forest  Mr. 
Lloyd  went  west  for  five  days  without  the  sight  of 
a  Pygmy.  Suddenly  he  became  aware  of  their 
presence  by  mysterious  movements  among  the 
trees,  which  he  at  first  attributed  to  the  monkeys. 
Finally  he  came  to  a  clearing  and  stopped  at  an 
Arab  village,  where  he  met  a  great  number  of  the 
diminutive  nomads.  "  They  told  me,"  says  Mr. 
Lloyd,  "that,  unknown  to  me,  they  had  been 
watching  me  for  five  days,  peering  through  the 
growth  of  the  forest.  They  appeared  very  much 
frightened,  and  even  when  speaking  covered  their 
faces.  I  asked  a  chief  to  allow  me  to  photograph 
the  dwarfs,  and  he  brought  a  dozen  together.  I 
was  able  to  secure  a  snap-shot,  but  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  the  time  exposure,  as  the  Pygmies  would 
not  stand  still.  Then  I  tried  to  measure  them, 
and  found  not  one  over  four  feet  in  height.  All 
were  fully  developed,  the  women  somewhat  slighter 
than  the  men.  I  was  amazed  at  their  sturdiness. 
The  men  have  long  beards,  reaching  halfway 
down  the  chest.     They  are  very  timid,  and  will 


FIRST  STAGE    OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      1 39 

not  look  a  stranger  in  the  face,  their  bead-Hke  eyes 
constantly  shifting.  They  are,  it  struck  me,  fairly 
intelligent.  I  had  a  long  talk  with  a  chief,  who 
conversed  intelligently  about  their  customs  in  the 
forest  and  the  number  of  the  tribesmen.  Both 
men  and  women,  except  for  a  tiny  strip  of  bark, 
were  quite  nude.  The  men  were  armed  with 
poisoned  arrows.  The  chief  told  me  the  tribes 
were  nomadic,  and  never  slept  two  nights  in  the 
same  place.  They  just  huddle  together  in  hastily 
thrown-up  huts.  Memories  of  a  white  traveller,  — 
Mr.  Stanley,  of  course,  —  who  crossed  the  forest 
years  ago,  still  linger  among  them." 

The  discovery  of  these  forest  Pygmies  has  di- 
rected attention  to  the  Bushmen  of  South  Africa, 
a  desert-dwelling  race,  long  known  though  com- 
paratively little  regarded  in  their  ethnological  sig- 
nificance. They  are  now  by  many  regarded  as  an 
outlying  branch  of  the  forest  Pygmies,  the  chief 
difference  being  in  the  shape  of  the  skull,  which 
is  rather  long  in  the  Bushmen,  rather  short  in 
the  Pygmies.  These  degraded  wanderers  inhabit 
an  area  extending  from  the  inner  ranges  of  the 
mountains  of  Cape  Colony,  through  the  central 
Kalahari  desert,  to  near  Lake  Ngami,  and  thence 
northwestward  to  the  Ovambo  River.  Into  these, 
the  most  barren  portions  of  the  South  African 
deserts,  they  have  been  driven  by  the  encroach- 
ments of  Kaffirs,  Hottentots,  and  Europeans. 


140  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

They  closely  resemble  the  Akka  tribes  of  the 
north,  averaging  about  four  and  a  half  feet  in 
height,  and  possessing  deep-set,  crafty  eyes,  small 
and  depressed  nose,  and  a  generally  repulsive  coun- 
tenance. Their  complexion  is  of  a  dirty  yellow. 
Their  hair  grows  in  small,  woolly  tufts.  In  the 
vicinity  of  Lake  Ngami,  Livingstone  found  them 
to  be  of  larger  stature  and  darker  color,  while 
Baines  measured  some  in  this  region  who  were 
five  feet  six  inches  in  height.  In  disposition  the 
Bushmen  are  strikingly  wild,  malicious,  and  in- 
tractable, while  their  cerebral  development  is  classed 
by  Humboldt  as  belonging  to  almost  the  lowest 
class  of  the  human  species. 

Close  in  affinity  with  the  Bushmen,  and  in  vari- 
ous respects  unlike  the  dark  races  around  them, 
are  the  Hottentots,  the  original  inhabitants  of 
Cape  Colony,  a  race  of  herdsmen  who  are  much 
superior  in  culture  to  the  degraded  desert  nomads. 
They  are  not  dwarfish,  being  of  medium  stature, 
but  they  resemble  the  Bushmen  in  complexion,  in 
which  and  in  general  cast  of  features  they  present 
some  similarity  to  the  Chinese.  Their  hair,  like 
that  of  the  Bushmen,  grows  in  tufts,  with  spaces 
between,  and  they  are  like  them  in  language,  their 
method  of  speech  consisting  largely  in  a  series 
of  clicking  sounds.  Their  manner  of  talking 
has  been  compared  to  the  clucking  of  a  hen,  and 
by  the  Dutch  to  the  "gobbling  of  a  turkey- 
cock."     The  Hottentots  present  every  appearance 


FIRST  STAGE  OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      141 

of  being  a  developed  branch  of  the  Pygmy  family, 
or  the  result  of  a  cross  between  Bushmen  and 
negroes. 

These  tribes  of  dwarfs,  now  extended  through- 
out the  equatorial  forests  and  over  the  South 
African  deserts,  were  probably  once  far  more 
widespread,  inhabiting  much  of  the  continent  and 
reaching  as  far  as  Madagascar,  where  a  branch  of 
them,  known  as  Kinios  or  Quinias,  are  thought 
still  to  exist.  They  extended  north  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  have  left  their  representatives  in  Mo- 
rocco in  a  tribe  of  dwarfs,  about  four  feet  high, 
who  differ  widely  in  appearance  from  all  other 
people  of  that  country.  As  to  their  origin,  there 
is  a  diversity  of  opinion.  Some  anthropologists 
look  upon  them  as  a  primeval  race,  distinct  from 
the  negroes,  who  came  among  them  later.  Pro- 
fessor Virchow,  on  the  contrary,  is  of  the  opinion 
that  their  only  important  difference  from  the 
negroes  is  that  of  size,  and  regards  them  as  the 
remains  of  a  primitive  population  from  whom 
the  negroes  have  descended. 

In  a  preceding  section  a  statement  was  made  as 
to  what  was  the  probable  general  appearance  of 
the  man-ape.  It  was  based  upon  the  physical 
aspect  of  the  Pygmies,  whom  we  hold  to  form 
the  immediate  derivative  of  man's  ape  ancestor, 
and  to  have  made  no  radical  change  in  personal 
appearance,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  various 
ape-like  characteristics   which   they   still   present. 


142  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

Mentally  they  have  made  a  very  considerable 
advance,  and  have  reached  the  stage  of  men  of 
low  intellectual  powers ;  but  while  their  brains  have 
been  growing  their  bodies  have  not  greatly  changed, 
and  the  marks  of  their  origin  are  thick  upon  them. 
There  has  probably  been  little  change  in  size,  the 
dimhiutive  stature  and  small  bodily  dimensions 
being  in  accord  with  their  incessant  activity,  while 
the  difficulties  of  traversing  the  thick  growth  of  the 
tropical  forest  may  have  helped  to  keep  them  small. 
As  it  is,  they  are  of  about  half  the  size  of  civilized 
man,  the  weight  of  a  full  grown  adult  male  being 
probably  not  over  ninety  pounds. 

Taking  the  Pygmies  as  a  whole,  it  may  be  said 
that,  though  many  of  the  Akkas  are  dispropor- 
tionate in  shape  and  tottering  in  gait,  on  the  whole 
these  people  are  well  made,  their  protuberant 
paunch  being  probably  a  result  of  their  habits  of 
eating.  Captain  Guy  Burrows  says  that  a  Pygmy 
will  eat  twice  as  much  as  would  suffice  a  full-grown 
man,  and  that  one  of  them  will  devour  a  whole  stalk 
of  bananas  at  a  meal,  with  other  food.  Some  tribes 
are  described  as  physically  and  mentally  degener- 
ate, and  prognathism  is  in  many  cases  strongly 
declared,  the  lower  part  of  the  face  having  an  ape- 
like contour,  and  the  protruding  chin,  that  feature 
peculiar  to  man,  being  very  deficient.  In  their 
great  abdominal  development  the  adult  Akkas  re- 
semble the  children  of  Arabs  and  negroes.  This, 
therefore,  seems  the  retention  of  a  primitive  feature 


FIRST  STAGE   OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      1 43 

which  has  become  a  passing  characteristic  in  the 
more  advanced  types  of  mankind. 

The  Pygmies  are  not  destitute  of  intelligence, 
and  are  capable  of  receiving  some  of  the  elements 
of  education.  Two  of  them  were  brought  to  Italy 
about  1875,  who  within  two  years'  time  learned  to 
read  and  write  and  to  speak  Italian  with  much 
fluency.  They  showed  themselves  superior  in 
school  studies  to  European  children  of  ten  or 
twelve  years  of  age,  and  one  of  them  became 
somewhat  proficient  in  music.  In  their  habits 
they  resembled  children,  being  sensitive  and  im- 
pulsive, fond  of  play,  and  very  quick  in  their 
motions.  Their  readiness  in  gaining  the  elements 
of  education  is  in  accord  with  experience  in  the 
case  of  other  savages.  It  is  when  studies  requir- 
ing abstruse  thought  are  reached  that  the  facility 
in  acquisition  of  the  savage  races  comes  to  an  end. 

With  this  consideration  of  the  characteristics  and 
habitat  of  the  Pygmies  we  may  proceed  to  a  review 
of  their  habits.  The  weapons  which  they  seem  to 
have  developed  during  their  long  upward  progress, 
and  to  which  their  supremacy  over  the  wild  beasts 
of  the  forest  is  probably  due,  consist  of  two,  the 
bow  and  arrow  and  the  spear.  The  bow  and  ar- 
row are  small  and  insignificant  in  appearance,  and 
would  be  of  little  value  but  for  the  poison  which 
the  Pygmies  have  somehow  learned  how  to  obtain, 
and  which  makes  them  dreaded,  not  only  by  beasts. 
but  by  men.     Wherever  found,  from  the  deserts  of 


144  ^-^^  ^^^  ^^^  ANCESTOR 

the  south  to  the  forest  of  the  Welle  and  Aruwimi 
on  the  north,  the  poisoned  arrow  is  a  mark  of  affin- 
ity as  decided  in  its  way  as  their  physical  resem- 
blance. Its  wide  distribution  goes  to  indicate  that 
it  was  the  general  weapon  of  the  Pygmies  ages 
ago,  when,  presumably,  they  had  all  Africa  for 
their  own,  and  ruled  supreme  over  the  animal 
world  in  that  continent. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  use  of  the  poisoned 
arrow  is  not  pecuhar  to  them,  but  is  a  somewhat 
common  possession  of  savage  tribes  in  all  parts  of 
the  earth.  This  makes  it  quite  possible  that  it 
was  not  original  with  the  Pygmies,  but  was  derived 
by  them  from  other  tribes.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
view  of  its  great  value  in  giving  them  supremacy 
over  the  lower  animals,  it  may  well  have  been  a 
primeval  Pygmy  invention,  and  these  tribes  the 
original  source  of  its  existing  wide  distribution. 

They  possess  more  than  one  poison ;  one  being 
a  dark  substance  of  the  color  and  consistence  of 
pitch,  which  is  supposed  to  be  made  out  of  a 
species  of  arum.  It  is  laid  in  the  splints  of  their 
wooden  arrows,  or  spread  thickly  upon  their  iron 
arrowheads,  when  they  possess  these.  Another 
poison  is  of  a  pale  glue  color,  which  is  supposed 
by  Stanley  to  be  made  of  crushed  red  ants.  When 
fresh  these  poisons  are  deadly,  producing  excessive 
faintness,  palpitation  of  the  heart,  nausea,  and  deep 
pallor,  soon  followed  by  death.  In  Stanley's  expe- 
rience one  man  died  within  a  minute,  from  a  mere 


FIRST  STAGE    OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      145 

pin  prick  in  the  breast.  Others  lived  during  dif- 
ferent intervals,  extending  up  to  one  hundred 
hours.  The  difference  in  virulence  seems  to  have 
depended  on  the  degree  of  freshness  of  the  venom, 
which  apparently  lost  its  strength  as  it  became  dry. 

The  possession  of  a  weapon  so  deadly  as  this, 
together  with  the  agility  and  daring  and  the  un- 
erring marksmanship  of  the  forest  dwarfs,  seem 
sufficient  to  give  them  absolute  control  of  the 
animals  of  the  African  wilds.  The  lion,  the  ele- 
phant, and  the  buffalo,  the  largest  and  fiercest  of 
the  beasts  of  field  and  forest,  are  powerless  before 
the  virulent  venom  of  the  arrows  of  the  Pygmies, 
and  doubtless  for  ages  they  have  held  dominion  as 
the  fearless  rulers  of  wood  and  wild.  Captain  Bur- 
rows says  of  the  skill  with  the  bow  of  the  Pygmy 
that  '*  he  will  shoot  three  or  four  arrows,  one  after 
the  other,  with  such  rapidity  that  the  last  will  have 
left  the  bow  before  the  first  has  reached  its  goal." 

The  bow  and  spear  are  not  their  only  means  of 
obtaining  food.  They  have  certain  of  the  arts  of 
the  trapper,  perhaps  original  with  them,  perhaps 
borrowed  from  their  larger  neighbors.  They  sink 
pits  in  the  pathways  of  their  game,  covering  them 
with  light  sticks  and  leaves  and  sprinkling  earth 
over  the  whole.  They  build  hut-like  structures, 
and  lay  nuts  or  plantains  beneath,  for  the  purpose 
of  tempting  chimpanzees,  baboons,  or  other  apes. 
A  slight  movement  causes  the  hut  to  fall  on  the 
incautious  animals.     Bow  traps  are  placed  along 

L 


146  MAN  AND   HIS  ANCESTOR 

the  tracks  of  civets,  ichneumons,  and  rodents,  which 
snap  and  strangle  them.  The  Pygmies  do  not 
hesitate  to  attack  the  elephant,  spearing  it  from 
beneath,  and  hunting  it  for  its  ivory,  which  they 
trade  with  the  settled  tribes.  In  short,  they  are  of 
unsurpassed  agility,  and  are  the  best  of  woodsmen 
and  hunters,  their  skill  being  taken  advantage  of 
by  the  settled  tribes,  who  trade  with  them  vege- 
tables, tobacco,  spears,  knives,  and  arrows  for  meat, 
honey,  the  feathers  of  birds,  the  ivory  of  the  ele- 
phant, and  other  forest  spoil.  So  destructive  are 
they  of  game  that  they  would  soon  denude  the  sur- 
rounding forest  if  they  stayed  long  in  one  spot, 
so  that  they  are  compelled  to  move  frequently. 
Schweinfurth  speaks  of  them  as  cruel  and  fond 
of  tormenting  animals. 

They  serve  the  settled  natives  in  other  ways, 
acting  as  scouts  and  informing  them  of  the  coming 
of  strangers  while  still  distant.  Every  forest  road 
runs  through  their  camps,  their  villages  command 
every  crossway,  and  no  movement  can  take  place 
in  the  forest  without  their  knowledge,  while  they 
are  adepts  in  the  art  of  concealment. 

The  superior  woodcraft,  the  malicious  disposi- 
tion, and  the  poisoned  arrows  and  good  marksman- 
ship of  these  forest  folks  make  them  formidable 
enemies,  and  the  settled  tribes  hold  them  in  dread 
and  are  glad  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  them. 
Yet  they  find  them  much  of  a  nuisance,  since  their 
dwarfish  neighbors  claim  free  access  to  their  gar- 


FIRST  STAGE    OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      1 47 

dens  and  plantain  fields,  where  they  help  themselves 
to  fruit  in  return  for  small  supplies  of  meat  and  furs. 
In  short,  they  are  human  parasites  on  the  larger 
natives,  who  suffer  from  their  extortions,  yet  fear 
to  provoke  their  enmity.  Burrows  says  that  they 
will  never  steal,  but  that  they  pay  very  inadequately 
for  the  plantains  they  take,  leaving  a  very  small 
package  of  meat  in  return  for  an  ample  supply  of 
food. 

The  Pygmies  build  their  camps  two  or  three 
miles  away  from  the  negro  villages,  living  in 
groups  of  sixty  to  eighty  families.  A  large  clear- 
ing may  have  eight  to  twelve  of  these  Pygmy 
camps  around  it,  with  perhaps  two  thousand  in- 
mates. Their  dwellings  are  of  the  shape  of  an 
oval  cut  lengthwise,  and  are  built  in  a  rude  circle, 
the  residence  of  the  chief  occupying  the  centre. 
The  doors  are  two  or  three  feet  high.  On  every 
track  leading  to  the  camp,  at  about  one  hundred 
yards'  distance,  is  a  sentry  house  large  enough  to 
hold  two  of  the  little  folks,  its  doorway  looking 
up  the  track  from  the  camp.  While  wandering  in 
the  forest  they  build  the  flimsiest  of  leaf  shelters. 

The  intelligence  of  the  Pygmies  is  of  a  very  low 
order.  In  the  arts  which  they  have  been  develop- 
ing for  ages  they  are  experts,  they  are  thoroughly 
famihar  with  the  habits  of  animals,  and  as  hunters 
they  are  unsurpassed.  But  in  intellect  they  are 
decidedly  lacking.  They  are  destitute  of  agricul- 
ture, possess  no  animals  except  a  few  dogs,  and 


148  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

have  none  of  the  elements  of  culture.  The  Bush- 
men, for  instance,  can  count  only  up  to  two ;  all 
beyond  that  is  ''many."  Yet  this  low  tribe  of 
desert  nomads  is,  as  we  have  said,  skilled  in  the 
art  of  drawing,  its  sketches  of  men  and  animals 
being  widely  distributed  through  Cape  Colony. 

The  Pygmies  seem  greatly  lacking  in  the  social 
sentiments.  Burrows,  in  his  "  Land  of  the  Pygmies," 
says  that  they  do  not  possess  even  the  most  ordi- 
nary ties  of  family  affection.  Such  common  and 
natural  feelings  of  affinity  as  those  between  mother 
and  son,  brother  and  sister,  etc.,  seemed  to  be 
wanting  in  them. 

It  is  a  fact  of  great  interest  that  the  Pygmy 
race  does  not  seem  confined  to  Africa,  for  tribes 
of  men  resembling  the  Pygmies  in  stature  and  in 
various  other  particulars  are  found  in  widely 
removed  localities,  as  in  Malacca,  the  Andaman 
Islands,  and  the  PhiHppine  Archipelago,  while 
there  are  indications  that  they  once  spread  widely 
over  this  island  region  of  the  earth.  Those  of  the 
Philippines,  known  as  Negritos  or  Aetas,  have 
been  somewhat  closely  observed  and  may  be  briefly 
described. 

The  Negritos  are  similar  in  stature  to  the  Pygmies 
of  Africa,  the  men  averaging  four  feet  eight  inches 
high,  and  they  are  like  them  in  general  appear- 
ance. They  are  darker  in  complexion,  some  being 
as  sable  as  negroes,  and  all  of  them  darker  than  the 
African  Pygmies.     Their  features  ^.re  cgajcse  ^d 

IK.ftH;GOiX£GELiBRABYI 


FIRST  STAGE    OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      1 49 

ill-shaped,  their  nose  depressed,  lips  full,  hair  black 
and  frizzled.  In  body,  like  the  Pygmies,  they  are 
thin  and  spindle-legged.  The  calf  of  the  leg  is 
not  developed  in  any  of  these  dwarfish  people. 
The  Negritos  possess  one  marked  and  significant 
characteristic,  —  the  separation  of  the  great  toe. 
This,  while  it  has  not  the  full  power  of  movement 
shown  in  the  apes,  is  much  more  separated  from 
the  others  than  in  the  whites,  and  can  be  readily 
used  in  grasping.  By  its  aid  the  Negrito  can  not 
only  pick  up  small  objects,  but  can  descend  the 
rigging  of  a  ship  head  downward,  holding  on 
like  a  monkey  by  his  toes.  It  may  be  said  that 
among  uncivilized  and  barefoot  people  the  great 
toe  is  usually  very  mobile.  The  artisans  of  Ben- 
gal can  weave,  the  Chinese  boatmen  can  row,  with 
its  aid,  and  it  adds  much  to  facility  in  climbing. 

The  Negritos  wear  little  clothing,  have  no  fixed 
abodes,  and  pass  a  wandering  life  in  the  forests, 
living  on  game,  honey,  wild  fruits,  roots  of  the 
arum,  and  other  forest  food.  Their  weapons 
consist  of  a  bamboo  lance,  a  bow  of  palm  wood, 
and  a  quiver  of  poisoned  arrows.  It  is  certainly 
a  striking  fact  that,  wherever  found,  from  South 
Africa  to  the  Far  East,  the  Pygmy  tribes  possess 
the  art  of  poisoning  their  weapons.  This  art 
is  not  practised  by  the  surrounding  peoples,  and 
is  the  strongest  evidence  of  a  community  of  origin. 
It  seems  to  point  back  to  a  remote  period  when 
the  Pygmy  peoples  spread  far  through  the  tropics 


150  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

of  the  Eastern  hemisphere,  though  in  the  region 
now  under  consideration  they  have  almost  vanished 
through  the  assaults  of  the  Malays. 

The  Negritos  are  very  alert  physically,  being 
remarkably  fleet  of  foot,  while  they  can  climb  like 
monkeys.  They  live  in  groups  of  about  fifty  fami- 
lies, shelter  being  obtained  by  a  simple  erection 
of  sloping  poles  and  leaves,  though  in  their  more 
settled  locations  they  built  bamboo  huts  like  those 
of  the  Malays.  They  are  a  short-lived  race,  sel- 
dom living  more  than  forty  years.  Mentally,  they 
are  stupid  and  apparently  incapable  of  improve- 
ment, seeming  to  stand  at  the  foot  of  the  human 
scale.  Attempts  to  instruct  them  have  been  made, 
but  all  proved  failures.  Efforts  to  make  agri- 
culturists of  them  have  proved  similarly  futile. 
They  are  hereditarily  hunters,  and  hunters  they 
are  likely  to  remain. 

The  only  Eastern  locality  of  which  the  Pygmy 
race  remained  in  full  possession  until  recent  times 
is  that  of  the  Andaman  Islands.  This  is  no  longer 
the  case.  Great  Britain  made  a  penal  settlement 
of  these  islands  after  the  mutiny  in  India,  and  as 
a  consequence  the  Mincopies,  as  their  native  in- 
habitants are  called,  have  begun  to  disappear. 
These  islanders  are  rather  taller  than  the  Philippine 
Negritos,  ranging  from  four  and  a  half  to  five  feet 
in  height,  but  otherwise  there  is  a  somewhat  close 
resemblance  between  them.  Their  color  is  dark 
brown  or  black,  their  hair  woolly,  and  inclined  to 


FIRST  STAGE    OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      151 

grow  in  tufts,  like  that  of  the  Bushmen.  The 
head,  though  large  in  proportion  to  the  body,  is 
really  very  small  and  of  low  cranial  capacity. 
That  of  the  men  is  only  1244  cubic  centimetres, 
as  contrasted  with  1554  cubic  centimetres  of  a 
large  number  of  male  Parisians  measured  by  Broca. 
That  of  the  women  differs  in  the  same  proportion. 
Flower  says  that  the  Mincopies  rank  lowest  among 
the  human  races  in  this  respect ;  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  brain  usually  decreases  in 
size  with  decrease  in  stature. 

Small  as  these  islanders  are,  however,  their 
strength  is  relatively  great.  They  use  with  ease 
bows  which  the  strongest  English  sailors  cannot 
string,  though  practice  may  have  much  to  do  with 
this  facility.  And  they  can  send  arrows  with  a 
force  that  seems  out  of  accord  with  their  size. 
Their  agility  is  remarkable.  Travellers  speak  of 
the  speed  of  the  bullet  in  describing  their  running 
—  doubtless  with  some  exaggeration.  Their  senses 
are  strikingly  acute.  It  is  said  that  they  can  dis- 
tinguish fruits  by  their  odor  when  hidden  in  the 
foliage  of  the  jungle,  and  have  wonderful  powers 
of  sight  and  hearing.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Aetas, 
their  Hfe  is  short,  though  the  age  of  puberty  is 
nearly  as  great  as  with  us.  Fifty  is  extreme  old 
age  with  these  people,  and  twenty-two  is  said  to 
be  their  average  length  of  life. 

Mentally,  they  are  at  a  low  level,  the  lowest,  in 
the  opinion  of  Owen,  among  the  races  of  mankind. 


152  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

In  counting  they  have  words  for  only  one  and  two, 
but  can  count  up  to  ten  by  touching  the  nose  with 
each  of  the  fingers  in  succession,  saying  each  time, 
"this  one  also."  Their  language  is  of  a  primitive 
type,  and  in  various  respects  they  manifest  low 
intelligence.  Yet,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Akkas 
mentioned,  they  can  be  taught  to  the  level  of  other 
children  of  twelve  or  fourteen  years.  Their  mind, 
in  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Brander,  seems  rather  to  be 
asleep  than  incapable.  One  child  was  taught  to 
read  and  write,  and  to  speak  English  fluently,  and 
gained  some  knowledge  of  arithmetic ;  and  this 
was  not  an  exceptional  case. 

It  does  not  seem  at  all  remarkable,  when  we  con- 
sider the  ease  with  which  monkeys  can  be  taught 
many  arts  and  acts  new  to  them,  that  those  dwarf- 
ish men,  like  other  savages,  greatly  superior  as  they 
are  in  brain  power  to  the  apes,  should  be  capable 
of  acquiring  the  minor  elements  of  education.  It 
is  not  what  they  can  be  taught,  but  what  they 
have  taught  themselves,  that  we  must  consider  in 
assigning  them  to  their  comparative  place  in  intel- 
lectual development.  In  this  respect  the  Minco- 
pies  are  on  a  very  low  plane.  They  have  not 
even  acquired  the  art  of  making  a  fire,  though  this 
is  almost  universal  with  mankind.  All  they  know 
is  how  to  keep  a  fire  alive,  and  in  this  they  are 
very  assiduous.  It  is  probable  that  they  may  have 
obtained  fire  at  first  from  volcanoes  on  neighboring 
islands. 


.    FIRST  STAGE   OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      1 53 

They  are  lacking,  like  the  Pygmy  races  in  gen- 
eral, in  the  art  of  chipping  stone,  one  of  the  earli- 
est arts  acquired  by  man.  Their  only  means  of 
shaping  stone  is  to  put  it  into  the  fire  until  it 
breaks  or  splinters,  when  they  can  use  the  sharp 
splinters  for  their  purposes.  They  are  quite  desti- 
tute of  the  art  of  drawing,  and  have  no  means  of 
communicating  their  thoughts  except  by  speech. 

Yet  with  these  deficiencies,  they  have  made  some 
progress  in  the  industrial  arts.  They  make  wooden 
vessels,  and  can  produce  pottery  which  stands  the 
fire  and  in  which  they  cook  most  of  their  food. 
They  make  nets  of  considerable  size,  which  they 
use  to  fish  with  in  the  narrow  streams.  They  have 
arrows  and  harpoons,  whose  points  are  fastened  to 
the  shaft  by  a  long  cord.  The  fish  or  land  animal 
struck  unwinds  this  cord  in  trying  to  get  away, 
and  its  speed  being  checked  by  the  shaft  which  it 
drags  along,  it  is  easily  caught. 

The  Mincopies  possess  boats,  and  these  seem  to 
have  been  early  possessions  of  the  Negrito  popula- 
tions, by  whose  aid  they  were  able  to  migrate  from 
island  to  island.  Their  canoes  have  nautical  quali- 
ties which  have  astonished  English  sailors.  At 
one  time  they  were  probably  bold  and  daring  fisher-' 
men  and  navigators,  until  driven  to  the  forests  and 
mountains  by  the  invasion  of  the  Malays. 

As  the  Pygmies  were  in  all  probability  the  aborigi- 
nes of  Africa,  so  the  Negritos  appear  to  have  been 
the  aboriginal  people  of  the  Eastern  islands,  if  not 


154  M^^  ^^^  H^^  ANCESTOR 

of  India.  Quatrefages,  in  his  work  "The  Pyg- 
mies," finds  reason  to  beUeve  that  even  at  the  pres- 
ent day  traces  of  them,  pure  or  mixed,  can  be  found 
from  southeast  New  Guinea  to  the  Andaman  Isl- 
ands, and  from  the  Sunda  Islands  to  Japan.  On 
the  continent  their  range  extends,  according  to 
him,  "  from  Annam  and  the  peninsula  of  Malacca 
to  the  western  Ghauts,  and  from  Cape  Comorin  to 
the  Himalayas." 

In  one  part  of  India  the  Negrito-like  population 
are  called  Bander-lokh  (literally  "man-ape")  by 
the  neighboring  tribes.  The  Semangs  of  Malacca 
are  jet-black  in  color,  with  thick  lips,  flat  nose, 
and  protruding  abdomen.  In  regard  to  the  charac- 
teristic of  prognathism,  it  is  possessed  in  various 
degrees,  the  most  pronounced  instance  being  seen 
in  the  photograph  of  one  of  the  Kalangs  of  Java,  a 
tribe  which  has  recently  become  extinct.  The  face 
of  this  individual  is  strikingly  ape-like  in  profile. 

Everywhere  that  these  dwarfish  people  are 
found,  whether  in  Africa,  India,  or  Malaysia,  they 
present  the  appearance  of  being  an  aboriginal 
race,  now  largely  annihilated  by  the  incursions 
of  larger  and  better-armed  people,  but  once  wide- 
spread and  numerous.  As  to  their  place  of  origin, 
whether  in  Africa,  India,  or  the  island  region,  it  is 
useless  to  speculate,  as  the  facts  on  which  an  opin- 
ion could  be  based  are  not  known.  Wherever 
found  they  are  in  close  relation  to  the  black  races, 
the  negroes  of  Africa,  the  Papuans  of  Polynesia, 


FIRST  ST  A  GE   OF  HUMAN  E  VOL  UTION      1 5  5 

and  evidences  of  a  considerable  degree  of  mixture 
of  races  exist.  This  is  especially  the  case  in  Poly- 
nesia and  India,  where  the  Negritos  appear  to 
shade  off  into  the  full-sized  blacks  through  an 
intermediate  series  of  half-breeds. 

Yet  one  fact  of  ethnological  importance  needs 
to  be  mentioned.  The  Negritos  and  Pygmies  are 
everywhere  brachycephaHc,  or  short-headed,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Bushmen,  who  are  dolicho- 
cephalic, or  partially  so.  Negroes  and  Papuans 
are  strongly  dolichocephalic.  In  this  respect  the 
Pygmy  peoples  agree  more  closely  with  the  short- 
headed  Mongolian  or  yellow  races  than  with  the 
long-headed  negro  or  black  races,  though  in  general 
features  they  come  near  the  latter. 

In  truth,  this  race  of  dwarfs  may  be  the  primi- 
tive stock  from  which  the  Mongolians  branched  off 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Negroes  on  the  other,  since 
they  are  in  some  measure  intermediate  between  the 
two.  Latham  says  of  the  Rajmahs  mountaineer?, 
"  Some  say  their  physiognomy  is  MongoHan,  others 
that  it  is  African."  Quatrefages  is  strongly  of 
the  opinion  that  the  negro  is  of  Indian  origin, 
and  reached  Africa  through  migration.  He  bases 
his  opinion  on  the  negroid  characters  of  existing 
tribes  in  India,  Persia,  and  elsewhere  in  Asia,  and 
on  the  similar  characters  of  the  aboriginal  Polyne- 
sians. As  regards  the  Pygmies,  they  probably 
spread  over  the  whole  of  this  section  of  the  earth 
at  a  period  of  remote  antiquity,  and  very  long  ago 


156 


MAN  AND   HIS  ANCESTOR 


developed  the  racial  differences  which  appear  to 
exist  between  separate  tribes.  Distinctions  of  this 
kind  can  be  seen  in  the  East,  and  a  marked  one  is 
pointed  out  by  Stanley  between  the  Wambutti  and 
the  Akka,  as  already  stated. 

Wherever  found  the  Pygmies  are  hunters,  usu- 
ally making  the  deep  forest  their  home,  and 
are  masters  through  their  agility,  cunning,  and 
deadly  weapons  of  the  whole  world  of  lower  ani- 
mals. Physically  they  are  probably  not  far  re- 
moved from  the  man-ape,  their  remote  ancestor,  for 
they  retain  various  ape-like  characters,  as  in  aspect 
of  face,  shape  of  body,  occasional  hairiness,  diminu- 
tive size,  shortness  of  legs,  imperfect  development 
of  the  calf,  occasional  waddling  gait  in  walking,  and 
the  other  particulars  above  pointed  out.  There  are 
certainly  abundant  reasons  for  believing  them  to 
be,  as  we  have  suggested,  the  final  result  of  the 
first  great  conflict  in  the  evolution  of  man,  that  with 
the  lower  animals. 

This  assured  mastery  once  gained,  the  occasion 
for  further  development  of  this  people  ceased 
while  they  remained  in  the  forest  habitat  which 
they  had  inherited  from  their  ape  ancestors.  Here 
the  problem  of  food  getting  was  fully  solved  and 
there  was  nothing  to  instigate  any  new  step  in 
evolution.  The  period  of  conflict  ended,  a  period 
of  rest  supervened,  and,  so  far  as  the  Pygmies  are 
concerned,  this  period  still  continues.  Though 
later  races,  their  probable  descendants,  have  left 


FIRST  STAGE    OF  HUMAN  EVOLUTION      I  57 

the  forest  and  set  up  new  stages  of  development 
through  new  conflicts  with  adverse  conditions,  the 
Pygmies  remain  in  their  resting  state,  and,  if  left 
to  themselves,  might  continue  in  this  state  for  ages 
in  the  future  as  they  have  done  for  ages  in  the 
past.  As  the  case  now  stands,  however,  annihi- 
lation threatens  some  of  them,  while  educative 
and  other  influences  from  without  may  bring  to 
an  end  the  physical  and  mental  isolation  of  the 
others. 

In  considering  the  Pygmies  as  they  exist  to-day, 
in  fact,  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  far  their  habits 
and  possessions  are  original  with  themselves  and 
how  far  they  have  been  derived  from  others. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  they  have  been 
influenced  by  the  customs  of  surrounding  peoples 
of  higher  culture,  and  that  they  have  received  im- 
plements and  methods  from  without.  To  get  down 
to  the  pure  Pygmy,  as  an  outcome  of  evolution 
within  himself,  we  would  need  to  strip  off  all  these 
adventitious  aids,  if  we  could  distinguish  them  from 
the  conditions  native  to  the  race,  and  thus  behold 
him  as  he  was  before  he  fell  under  the  influence 
of  men  of  higher  grade.  Were  it  possible  to  iso- 
late him  in  this  way,  and  present  his  original  self, 
we  should  have  before  us  an  ethnological  speci- 
men of  the  highest  interest  and  importance,  as  the 
ultimate  resultant  of  the  first  great  stage  in  the 
evolution  of  man  from  his  ape  ancestor. 


X 


THE   CONFLICT   WITH    NATURE 


It  has  been  a  frequently  debated  question 
whether  man  comprises  a  single  species  or  two 
or  more  species  of  animal  descent.  If  a  line  be 
drawn  from  the  Gold  Coast  in  tropical  Africa  to 
the  steppes  of  Tartary  in  central  Asia,  it  will 
present  two  markedly  distinct  races  of  men  at  its 
two  extremities.  At  its  southwestern  end  we  find 
the  most  long-headed,  prognathous,  frizzly-haired, 
dark-skinned  race  of  mankind.  At  its  northeast- 
ern end  is  the  most  round-headed,  orthognathous, 
straight-haired,  and  yellow-skinned  race.  Midway 
between  these  appear  intermediate  peoples,  with 
heads  round,  oval,  or  oblong,  hair  straight  or  curly, 
skin  fair  or  dark,  faces  upright  or  protruding,  men 
possibly,  to  judge  from  their  physical  character,  a 
result  of  the  amalgamation  of  these  two  distinct 
races. 

These  differences  may  be  the  result  of  original 
difference  in  species  or  may  be  due  to  climatic  and 
other  influences  of  nature.  Some  writers  accept 
the  one  view,  some  the  other,  and  neither  is  sus- 
tained by  any  great  weight  of  facts.     The  Pygmy 

race  presents  somewhat  similar  differences.     Usu- 

158 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  159 

ally  round-headed,  these  small  men  are  in  some 
instances  long-headed,  while  such  marked  distinc- 
tions appear  at  times  that  Stanley  classed  two 
neighboring  tribes  as  separate  races.  Here  they 
present  features  of  the  Mongolian,  there  they  are 
similar  to  the  Negro.  This  goes  to  indicate  that 
the  distinction  between  the  Negro  and  the  Mon- 
goHan  began  far  back  in  time,  but  it  does  not  prove 
that  it  is  the  result  of  original  difference  in  species, 
or  that  two  distinct  forms  of  ape  separately  devel- 
oped into  man.  While  this  is  quite  possible,  the 
theory  of  a  single  species  has  been  most  widely 
accepted.  The  chief  writers  on  the  subject  think 
that  the  differences  arose  during  that  undeveloped 
stage  of  mankind  when  resistance  to  the  transform- 
ing influences  of  nature  was  still  weak,  and  when 
the  structure  of  the  human  frame  may  have  yielded 
readily  to  agencies  which  would  have  little  or  no 
effect  upon  it  now. 

Of  one  thing  we  can  be  sure,  which  is  that  there 
was  a  wide  migration  of  the  apes  in  remote  times. 
Leaving  the  tropics,  many  species  spread  to  the 
north,  extending  into  Europe,  which  at  that  time 
seems  to  have  been  connected  by  land  bridges 
with  Africa,  and  spreading  far  through  Asia. 
There  was  probably  nothing  at  that  time  in  atmos- 
pheric conditions  to  check  such  a  migration.  The 
Tertiary  climate  of  Europe  is  believed  to  have  been 
quite  mild.  And  the  ape  family  is  by  no  means 
necessarily  confined   to  warm  regions.     Monkeys 


l60  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

are  found  to-day  at  high  elevations  on  the  moun- 
tains of  India,  enduring  the  chill  of  ten  thousand 
feet  of  altitude. 

Of  the  migration  to  Europe  abundant  evidence 
exists,  fossil  remains  of  monkeys  having  been 
found  in  many  localities  of  that  continent.  Among 
these  residents  of  early  Europe  was  at  least  one 
representative  of  the  anthropoid  apes,  the  fossil 
species  known  as  Dryopithecus,  from  the  middle 
Miocene  deposits  of  St.  Gaudens,  France.  This 
species,  apparently  most  nearly  allied  to  the  chim- 
panzee, was  taller  than  any  existing  ape.  Two  or 
three  other  fossil  remains,  possibly  of  anthropoid 
apes  of  smaller  size,  have  been  found,  and  Europe 
seems  to  have  been  well  supplied  with  apes  of  a 
considerable  degree  of  development  at  a  remote 
geological  period.  Among  those  may  have  been 
the  form  we  have  designated  the  man-ape,  the 
ancestor  of  the  human  race,  though  no  fossil  relic 
attributable  to  such  a  species  has  been  recognized. 

Coming  down  to  a  much  lower  period,  we  begin 
to  find  traces  of  man,  first  in  his  rudely  chipped 
and  later  in  his  poHshed  stone  weapons  and  tools. 
And  the  bones  of  man  himself  appear,  extending 
through  what  is  known  as  the  Quaternary  or  Pleis- 
tocene period.  Nearly  all  these  remains  have 
been  preserved  by  the  art  of  burial,  a  fact  indicat- 
ing some  degree  of  mental  progress,  though  their 
residence  in  caves  and  the  rudeness  of  their  imple- 
ments are  evidence  that  the  race  was  still  low  in 
culture. 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  l6l 

An  interesting  fact  in  connection  with  these 
ancient  human  remains  is  that  most  of  them  indi- 
cate a  small  race,  with  narrow  skulls  and  progna- 
thous jaws,  recalling  the  Pygmies  in  general 
structure.  This  rude  and  small  race  continued 
until  a  late  period  of  prehistoric  time.  It  extended 
down  from  the  cave  bear  and  mammoth  period 
through  the  later  reindeer  period,  as  is  proved  by- 
discoveries  made  in  the  caves  of  the  Belgian 
province  of  Namur.  And  there  is  good  reason 
to  believe  that  it  continued  into  the  age  of  bronze, 
for  the  small  size  of  the  handles  of  bronze  weapons 
show  they  must  have  been  intended  for  men  with 
small  hands. 

These  diminutive  people  seem  to  have  been  not 
over  four  feet  eight  inches  high.  They  were  not 
alone,  however.  Men  of  normal  height  were  in 
Europe  with  them.  The  northward  migration  of 
the  Pygmies  seems  to  have  been  accompanied  or 
followed  by  that  of  a  full  grown  people.  Yet  the 
Pygmies  have  held  their  own  in  Europe  as  in  Africa, 
with  certain  modifications.  In  Sicily  and  Sardinia, 
which  form  part  of  a  supposed  former  land  bridge 
between  Africa  and  Europe,  a  small  people  about 
five  feet  high  still  exist,  whom  Dr.  Kollman  looks 
upon  as  representing  a  distinct  race,  the  prede- 
cessors of  the  tall  Europeans.  In  the  Lapps  of 
northern  Europe  we  possess  another  small  race, 
possibly  the  lineal  descendents  of  the  Quaternary 
Pygmies.      Everywhere  the  small  man  has  been 

M 


1 62 


MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 


forced  to  retire  into  forests,  deserts,  and  icy  bar- 
rens before  the  taller  and  stronger  man.  The 
folk-lore  of  Europe  is  full  of  traditions  of  a  race 
of  dwarfs,  and  its  conflict  with  men  of  larger  mould, 
and  there  are  various  indications  that  this  race 
was  once  widespread. 

What  has  been  said  here  of  the  migration  of 
man  into  Europe  and  his  development  in  that 
country  is  preliminary  to  a  consideration  of  the 
second  great  stage  of  human  development,  that 
due  to  the  conflict  with  nature.  The  conflict  with 
the  animal  world  appears  to  have  ended  in  the 
production  of  a  dwarfish,  forest-dwelling  variety 
of  man,  in  the  lowest  human  stage  of  mental  evo- 
lution. The  conflict  with  nature  ended  in  the  de- 
velopment of  a  full-sized  variety  of  man,  dwelling 
largely  in  the  open  country  and  much  superior  in 
intellect,  as  indicated  by  his  higher  powers  of 
thought  and  advanced  degree  of  organization. 

The  conflict  with  nature  took  several  forms,  in 
accordance  with  the  conditions  of  the  several 
regions  inhabited  by  man.  Its  result  was  to 
subdue  nature  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  mankind, 
and  the  methods,  in  the  tropical  localities  of  origi- 
nal man,  consisted  in  the  reduction  of  animals  to 
the  domestic  state  and  a  similar  domestication  of 
food  plants.  In  other  words,  one  of  its  early  stages 
was  the  development  of  the  herding  habit,  while  a 
far  more  important  one  was  that  of  the  appearance 
of  the  agricultural  industries.     In  Europe  a  third 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  163 

and  still  more  vigorous  influence  supervened,  that 
of  the  conflict  with  cold  and  man's  gradual  adapta- 
tion to  the  conditions  of  a  frigid  climate. 

If  the  nomad  dwarfs  were  the  aboriginal  men, 
all  later  races  must  have  developed  from  them. 
While  remaining  in  the  forest  and  retaining  their 
primitive  habits,  the  Pygmies  presented  an  instance 
of  arrested  evolution.  For  a  new  development  to 
begin  it  was  necessary  to  abandon  the  old  locality 
and  with  it  the  old  habits,  and  this  they  probably 
began  to  do  at  a  remote  period.  When,  indeed, 
the  earth  was  their  dominion,  there  was  no  reason 
for  their  remaining  restricted  to  a  forest  residence, 
as  they  have  been  since  the  larger  races  took  pos- 
session of  the  open  country.  We  do  not  need  to 
go  back  far  in  time  in  the  East  to  find  the  Pygmy 
race  in  full  control  of  the  Philippine  and  other 
islands,  and  probably  of  Malacca  and  parts  of 
Hindostan.  Their  present  restriction  and  partial 
extermination  have  been  due  to  the  incursions  of 
the  warlike  Malays.  The  Andaman  Mincopies 
remained  undisturbed  until  a  recent  date,  and 
added  fishing  to  their  hunting  pursuits.  And  the 
canoes  which  these  islanders  now  possess  were 
probably  the  invention  of  their  race,  and  furnished 
the  means  by  which  the  aborigines  spread  from 
island  to  island  of  those  thickly  studded  seas. 

In  Africa  the  only  existing  indication  of  a  mi- 
gration of  the  forest  folk  into  the  open  country  is 
found  in  the  Bushmen  and  Hottentots  of  the  far 


1 64  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

south.  The  former,  confined  to  the  desert,  remain 
nomad  hunters  and  present  no  step  of  advance  be- 
yond the  Akka  and  other  equatorial  tribes.  The 
Hottentots,  on  the  contrary,  have  made  an  impor- 
tant step  of  progress.  While  still  nomads  and 
addicted  to  hunting,  they  have  domesticated  cattle 
and  sheep  and  become  essentially  a  herding  people, 
though  mentally  the  lowest  race  of  herders  on  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

With  this  change  in  habits,  the  Hottentots  have 
significantly  increased  in  stature.  While  still  of 
medium  height,  they  are  considerably  larger  than 
their  Bushmen  kindred,  to  whom  they  present  a 
close  resemblance  in  other  respects.  This  increase 
in  size  is  a  common  result  of  a  change  in  habits 
which  insures  a  fuller  supply  of  food  with  less 
strain  upon  the  muscular  organization  in  obtaining 
it ;  a  fact  of  which  the  lower  animal  world  is  full 
of  illustrations.  The  life  of  the  forest  and  desert 
hunters  is  one  of  incessant  activity,  and  their  food 
supply  is  precarious.  The  Hottentots,  on  the  con- 
trary, take  life  easily  and  are  inclined  to  indolence, 
their  herds  supplying  them  with  food  in  abundance 
with  little  exertion.  They  retain  enough  of  the  pri- 
meval strain  to  be  fond  of  hunting,  and  while  thus 
engaged  display  the  activity  of  their  ancestral  race, 
but  ordinarily  they  pursue  an  idle,  wandering  life, 
and  their  increase  in  size  may  well  be  a  result  of 
their  change  in  habits. 

The  Hottentots,  while  still  low  in  the  human 


THE   CONFLICT   WITH  NATURE  165 

scale,  are  mentally  a  stage  in  advance  of  the  Bush- 
men, they  having  a  more  developed  social  organiza- 
tion and  superior  powers  of  thought.  The  latter 
is  indicated  by  their  myths  and  legends,  of  which 
they  have  a  considerable  store,  though  they  are  in 
great  measure  destitute  of  religious  conceptions, 
such  religion  as  they  possess  taking  in  great  part 
the  primitive  form  of  ancestor  worship.  Under 
the  influence  of  Europeans  they  are  gradually 
abandoning  their  old  habits  and  adopting  those  of 
civilized  life,  but  while  improving  in  social  and 
industrial  conditions  there  is  little  evidence  of 
intellectual  advance. 

The  development  in  method  of  food-getting  dis- 
played by  the  Hottentots  was  really  but  the  com- 
pletion of  the  old  battle  for  dominion  with  the 
animal  host.  It  consisted  in  subjecting  some  of 
the  docile  herbivora  more  fully  to  human  master- 
ship. The  hunter  has  to  do  with  hostile  beasts, 
victims  but  not  servants  of  man.  The  herder  has 
reduced  some  of  these  animals  to  servitude,  and  no 
longer  has  to  overcome  them  through  the  arduous 
labors  of  the  chase.  He  is  able  to  obtain,  as  we 
have  said,  more  food  with  less  exertion,  a  larger 
population  can  live  in  a  limited  district,  and  the 
beneficial  effects  upon  the  mind  of  a  closer  social 
intercourse  are  shown. 

But  the  most  important  event  in  this  stage  of 
evolution  was  the  subjection  of  the  plant  world  to 
man.     For  ages  of  interminable  length  this  was 


1 66  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

not  thought  of.  Fruits  and  other  vegetable  prod- 
ucts formed  part  of  man's  food;  but  these  were  the 
growth  of  wild  nature,  and  the  plant  world  was 
left  to  its  own  will,  with  no  effort  to  bring  it  under 
human  control.  There  is  nothing  to  show  that  the 
idea  of  agriculture  ever  entered  the  mind  of  a 
Pygmy.  Of  the  plants  surrounding  him,  far  the 
greater  number  were  useless  for  food,  only  the  few 
were  available ;  but  the  conception  of  favoring  the 
few  at  the  expense  of  the  many  apparently  never 
occurred  to  him.  There  is,  indeed,  some  crude 
and  simple  agriculture  pursued  by  a  few  of  the 
Negritos  of  Luzon,  but  evidently  as  an  imitation  of 
the  Malay  agriculture  or  as  a  result  of  direct  teach- 
ing, certainly  not  as  an  original  conception.  The 
conflict  of  the  Pygmies  with  nature  has  been  con- 
fined to  the  animal  world,  and  reached  its  highest 
level  in  the  herding  industries  of  the  Hottentots. 

Where  and  when  the  subjugation  of  the  plant 
world  began  it  is  impossible  to  say.  It  very  prob- 
ably had  its  origin  in  the  fertile  open  lands  of  the 
tropics.  But  that  it  originated  in  the  central  region 
of  Africa,  or  that  the  agriculturists  of  that  region 
were  of  native  origin,  are  both  subjects  open  to 
question.  The  forest  folk  may  have  spread  into 
the  open  country,  there  developed  a  crude  agricul- 
ture, favored  the  growth  of  food  plants  at  the 
expense  of  useless  shrubs  and  trees,  and  gradually 
advanced  in  this  new  form  of  industry.  This 
would  be  in  accordance  with  the  opinion  of  Vir- 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  167 

chow,  who  looks  upon  the  negro  as  the  descendant 
of  the  Pygmy.  No  great  change  was  necessary  to 
convert  the  one  .  into  the  other.  The  Pygmy  is 
negro-like  in  cast  of  countenance  and  bodily  forma- 
tion. He  differs  in  size,  in  complexion,  and  in 
shape  of  head.  But  new  conditions  may  have 
given  rise  to  these  differences.  The  fierce  suns 
of  the  African  lowlands  may  well  have  caused  an 
increased  deposit  of  pigment,  changing  the  yellow- 
ish hue  of  the  Pygmy  to  the  deep  black  of  the 
negro.  An  increase  in  size  is  a  natural  result 
when  exertion  diminishes  and  food  increases. 
And  a  tendency  for  the  head  to  change  from  the 
short  to  the  long  shape  is  shown  in  the  Bushmen. 

On  the  other  hand,  certain  anthropologists,  of 
whom  we  may  name  Quatrefages,  take  an  oppo- 
site view,  and  believe  that  the  negroes  migrated 
from  Asia  or  the  Eastern  islands  to  Africa,  being, 
like  the  negro-like  Papuans,  descendants  of  the 
sable  or  dark  brown  Negritos  of  the  East.  In  this 
case  agriculture  may  have  originated  in  Asia  and 
have  been  brought  by  migrants  to  Africa.  All  we 
know  historically  concerning  it  is  that  the  earliest 
traceable  seats  of  agriculture  appear  to  have  been 
the  fertile  valleys  of  India,  Babylonia,  and  Egypt. 
But  the  known  culture  of  the  earth  in  these  regions 
goes  back  only  a  few  thousands  of  years,  while  for 
the  first  crude  stages  of  agriculture  we  must  prob- 
ably measure  years  by  tens  of  thousands. 

The  degree  of   subjection  of   nature  to  man's 


1 68  MAN  AND  mS  ANCESTOR 

needs,  as  displayed  in  tropical  agriculture,  was  com- 
paratively small,  and  its  effect  on  the  development 
of  the  human  intellect,  while  important,  was  lim- 
ited. It  had  the  highly  useful  result  of  a  great 
increase  in  population,  the  growth  of  village  and 
town  life,  an  advance  in  social  relations,  and  the 
beginning  of  political  relations.  New  implements 
were  needed,  better  houses  were  erected,  the  set- 
tled condition  of  the  people  gave  rise  to  direct 
efforts  at  education,  and  added  the  important 
element  of  commerce,  in  its  earliest  form,  to  the 
industries  of  mankind.  The  result  must  have  been 
a  fresh  start  in  the  development  of  the  intellect, 
though  one  that  probably  soon  reached  its  culmi- 
nating point  in  the  central  tropics. 

The  highest  results  of  the  development  of  agri- 
culture in  tropical  countries,  unaided  by  secondary 
influences,  seem  to  have  been  those  existing  in  the 
highly  fertile  regions  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia  at 
the  opening  of  the  historical  period.  The  density 
of  population  in  those  countries,  due  to  their  pro- 
lific production  of  food  stuffs,  gave  rise  to  con- 
siderably developed  political  and  social  institutions, 
and  laid  the  foundations  for  a  great  subsequent 
advance  under  the  influence  of  warfare,  invasion, 
and  the  other  more  potent  causes  of  human  prog- 
ress. Only  for  such  ulterior  influences  the  agri- 
culturists of  these  countries  would  perhaps  to-day 
remain  dormant  in  the  stage  of  mental  progress 
they  had  attained  ten  thousand  years  ago. 


THE    CONFLICT   WITH  NATURE  169 

In  considering  the  existing  conditions  of  the 
forest  nomads  and  the  African  agriculturists,  it  is 
not  safe  to  credit  them  with  the  origination  of  all 
the  arts  and  implements  they  possess.  The  negroes, 
for  instance,  have  been  for  ages  in  more  or  less 
close  association  with  the  Pygmies,  and  may  have 
taught  them  many  things  which  they  would  not 
have  attained  through  their  own  limited  powers  of 
thought.  The  bow  and  poisoned  arrow  are  very 
likely  original  with  them.  They  possess  this 
weapon  throughout  the  wide  range  from  the  Afri- 
can Hottentots  to  the  PhiHppine  Negritos,  while  it 
is  not  a  weapon  of  the  surrounding  peoples.  The 
spear  is  probably  also  original.  The  same  cannot 
safely  be  said  of  their  traps  and  snares  for  game. 
These  seem  beyond  their  power  of  invention,  and 
may  well  have  been  taught  them  by  the  negro  tribes. 
Their  habitations,  aside  from  the  mere  leaf  shelters, 
had  probably  a  similar  origin.  In  Africa  the  huts 
doubtless  had  their  model  in  those  of  the  negroes. 
In  the  Philippines  they  are  pile-supported  bamboo 
huts  of  the  pattern  of  those  of  the  Malays.  If, 
then,  we  take  from  the  forest  folk  the  arts  taught 
them  or  imitated  by  them,  we  reduce  them  to  a 
very  low  level  of  intellect  and  a  remarkable  paucity 
of  products  from  their  own  powers  of  thought. 

Similar  reasoning  may  be  applied  to  the  settled 
natives  of  Africa.  For  thousands  of  years  past 
they  have  been  in  contact  on  their  northern  bor- 
ders with  civilized  peoples,  numerous  immigrants 


k 

170  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

have  made  their  way  into  the  country,  and  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  amalgamation  has  very  likely 
taken  place.  We  cannot,  therefore,  safely  credit 
them  with  all  the  arts  and  implements  they  possess 
nor  with  all  their  political  and  social  progress.  No 
doubt  much  came  to  them  from  without,  much 
was  taught  them  from  within,  and  a  mixture  of 
blood  with  superior  races  may  have  aided  consider- 
ably in  improving  their  stock.  We  are  justified, 
then,  in  their  case  as  in  that  of  the  Pygmies,  in 
believing  that  their  stage  of  mental  and  social 
development  is  only  in  part  original  with  them, 
and  is  largely  due  to  the  influences  of  education 
and  amalgamation. 

The  pure  negro  is  not  a  very  numerous  element 
of  the  population  of  Africa.  He  stands  in  a  meas- 
ure intermediate  between  the  nomad  Pygmies  of 
the  forest  and  the  desert,  and  the  mixed  races 
who  may  be  called  negroid  but  cannot  strictly  be 
called  negro.  With  their  foreign  blood,  most  of 
these  have  obtained  foreign  arts  and  elements  of 
culture,  and  stand  at  a  distinctly  higher  physical 
and  mental  level  than  the  unamalgamated  negro. 

For  the  pure  or  nearly  pure  negro  we  must 
seek  the  lowlands  of  the  Guinea  coast,  the  seat  of 
the  most  pronounced  existing  negro  type.  Other 
localities  are  in  the  region  of  the  Gaboon,  along 
the  lower  Zambesi,  and  in  the  Benue  and  Shari 
basins.  Here  we  find  the  true  native  African, 
a  race  strikingly  uniform  in  aspect,  and,  next  to 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  1 71 

the  Pygmies,  the  lowest  in  physical  characteristics 
of  mankind.  The  features  of  structure  in  which 
the  negro  appears  to  occupy  a  position  interme- 
diate between  the  white  man  and  the  man-ape  — 
lower  than  the  former  and  approaching  the  latter 
—  are  the  following :  First,  his  abnormal  length 
of  arm,  which  averages  about  two  inches  longer 
than  that  of  the  Caucasian,  and,  when  in  the  erect 
position,  sometimes  reaches  the  knee-pan,  being 
little  shorter  proportionately  than  that  of  the 
chimpanzee.  Second,  his  prognathism,  or  projec- 
tion of  the  jaws  —  his  index  of  facial  angle  being 
about  70,  as  compared  with  the  Caucasian  82. 
Third,  his  weight  of  brain  —  average  European 
45  ounces,  negro  35,  highest  gorilla  20.  Fourth, 
his  short,  flat,  snub  nose,  deeply  depressed  at 
the  base,  wide  and  with  dilated  nostrils  at  the  ex- 
tremity. Fifth,  his  thick  protruding  lips.  Sixth, 
his  high  and  prominent  cheek  bones.  Seventh,  his 
great  thickness  of  cranium,  which  resists  blows 
that  would  break  the  skull  of  an  average  European. 
Eighth,  the  weakness  of  his  lower  limbs,  the  broad, 
flat  foot  and  low  instep,  the  projecting  heel  and 
somewhat  prehensile  great  toe. 

These  characteristics  the  negroes  possess  in  com- 
mon with  the  Pygmies  and  the  Negritos.  Others 
of  less  significance  could  be  named.  One  impor- 
tant character  is  that  of  the  cranial  sutures,  which 
close  much  earlier  in  the  negro  than  in  higher  races, 
thus  checking  the  development  of  the  brain  while 


172  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

the  body  is  still  growing.  To  this  many  ascribe 
the  mental  inferiority  of  the  negro  race.  A  close 
observer  records,  as  a  result  of  long  observa- 
tion on  the  plantations  of  the  southern  United 
States,  that  "the  negro  children  were  sharp, 
intelligent,  and  full  of  vivacity,  but  on  approach- 
ing the  adult  period  a  gradual  change  set  in.  The 
intellect  seemed  to  become  clouded,  animation 
giving  place  to  a  sort  of  lethargy,  briskness  yield- 
ing to  indolence."  This  is  very  probably  the  case 
with  the  Pygmies,  who  similarly  reach  a  mental 
limit  beyond  which  they  cannot  advance ;  but  this 
limit  is  set  in  the  adult  period.  In  other  words, 
the  adult  Pygmy  is  on  the  mental  level  of  the 
negro  child.  If  the  African  Pygmy  is  as  short 
lived  as  his  Eastern  congener,  he  does  not  survive, 
as  a  rule,  many  years  beyond  the  age  of  adoles- 
cence, and  continues  in  a  stage  of  childhood,  men- 
tally considered,  until  death. 

The  conclusion  to  be  derived  from  this  interest- 
ing fact  would  appear  to  be  that  the  negro  has 
made  a  distinct  and  important  advance  mentally 
beyond  the  Pygmy,  reaching  at  adolescence  the 
limit  of  mental  evolution  which  the  Pygmy  reaches 
at  death.  But  the  negro  stops  here,  or  goes  little 
beyond  this  limit.  His  cranial  sutures  close,  the 
growth  of  the  brain  is  arrested,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  his  mind  comes  to  an  end.  In  the  white 
the  brain  continues  to  expand,  and  the  closing  of 
the  sutures  takes  place  later  in  life.     Probably  the 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  173 

latter  is  a  result  of  the  former,  mental  development 
having  overcome  the  tendency  of  the  sutures  to 
close  in  early  life.  It  may  be  further  said  of  the 
negro  that,  mentally,  he  is  emotional  far  more  than 
intellectual,  and  unmoral  rather  than  immoral,  he 
being  apparently  incapable  of  comprehending  the 
moral  conceptions  of  advanced  man. 

If  we  seek  the  Malaysian  and  Australasian 
region  of  the  Eastern  seas,  we  find  there  another 
branch  of  the  negro  race,  similarly  in  contact  with, 
and  apparently  derived  from,  a  Pygmy  stock. 
This  Papuan  race  of  blacks  covers  a  wide  island 
region,  but,  like  the  African  race,  has  become 
greatly  modified  by  mixture  with  alien  peoples, 
largely  of  Malay  origin.  Its  purest  type  is  to  be 
found  in  New  Guinea,  where  it  approaches  the 
negro  in  general  character,  though  with  distinctive 
features  of  its  own. 

The  Papuan  is  of  medium  height ;  fleshy  rather 
than  muscular;  color  a  sooty  brown;  forehead 
high,  but  narrow  and  retreating ;  nose  sometimes 
flat  and  wide  at  nostrils,  but  oftener  hooked 
with  depressed  point;  lips  thick  and  projecting; 
high  cheek  bones ;  prognathism  general ;  hair 
black  and  frizzly.  He  is  negroid  in  appearance, 
and  is  said  to  resemble  the  African  of  the  coast 
region  opposite  Aden. 

We  need  not  pursue  this  subject  further.  It 
will  suffice  to  offer  the  general  conclusion  that  the 
negroid  race,  while,  through  its  change  of  habits 


174  ^^iV  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

from  the  hunting  to  the  agricultural  status,  it  has 
made  an  advance  both  mentally  and  physically 
beyond  the  Pygmy  aborigines,  does  not  appear  to 
have  advanced  greatly  in  either  particular,  the 
negro  reaching  a  mental  limit  at  a  low  level,  and 
being  arrested  physically  while  still  possessing 
marked  characteristics  of  the  man-ape. 

For  the  higher  development  of  man,  under  the 
stress  of  a  more  energetic  conflict  with  the  condi- 
tions of  nature,  we  must  seek  the  continent  of 
Europe,  whose  human  inhabitants  had  not  only  to 
subdue  the  wild  beasts  and  teach  the  earth  to  bring 
forth  wholesome  food  in  place  of  useless  plants, 
but  also  to  battle  with  wintry  climates,  and  over- 
come the  adverse  influences  of  cold,  sterility  of 
soil,  and  other  hostile  conditions  of  the  northern 
zones. 

One  of  the  chief  problems  of  biology  has  long 
been  that  of  the  production  of  new  varieties  and 
species  of  animals  as  an  effect  of  gradual  varia- 
tion in  structure.  This  is  believed  to  be  ordinarily 
due  to  changes  in  the  conditions  of  nature,  animals 
and  plants  which  have  made  accordant  changes 
in  structure  being  preserved,  those  which  have  not 
changed  in  accordance  with  the  new  conditions  per- 
ishing. Where  the  conditions  of  nature  remain 
uniform,  species  may  persist  for  long  ages  un- 
changed, though  even  in  the  latter  case  changes  in 
structure  are  apt  to  occur,  since  variation  in  spe- 
cies is  not  wholly  dependent  upon  external  changes. 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  1 75 

To  a  considerable  extent  it  is  due  to  causes  exist- 
ing within  the  organism  itself,  fortuitous  variations 
being  occasionally  preserved  when  not  out  .of  har- 
mony with  the  state  of  affairs  prevailing  in  the 
external  world.  Or  variation  may  occur  through 
the  establishment  of  new  relations  between  the 
species  inhabiting  some  locality  while  inanimate 
nature  remains  uniform,  or  through  migration  into 
new  inanimate  or  animate  surroundings.  Variations, 
in  short,  may  arise  under  the  influence  of  any  change 
in  the  general  environment  which  renders  necessary 
adaptive  changes  in  structure.  But  this  adapta- 
tion in  some  cases  takes  place  in  the  mind,  new 
actions  or  methods  of  meeting  the  contingency 
being  adopted  which  render  physical  changes  un- 
necessary. The  problem  is  a  highly  compHcated 
one,  and  no  doubt  many  causes  have  to  do  with 
the  multiplicity  of  effects. 

There  have  very  likely  been  many  occasions 
where  the  changes  in  structure  took  place  rapidly, 
in  consequence  of  sudden  variations  in  natural  con- 
ditions. Such  rapid  changes  in  conditions  neces- 
sarily exert  a  severe  stress  or  strain  on  organisms, 
either  destroying  them  or  causing  an  equally  rapid 
adaptation,  physical  or  rfiental.  In  such  instances 
it  is  likely  that  many  species  perish,  the  change 
demanded  being  too  great ;  others  escape  by  mi- 
gration to  better  fitted  localities ;  and  others,  more 
mobile  or  less  affected  by  the  change,  survive 
through  adaptive  variations. 


1/6  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

Of  such  periods  of  strain  upon  organic  nature 
we  know  of  only  one  in  recent  geological  times, 
that  known  as  the  Glacial  Age,  the  vast  variation 
in  climate  which  took  place  when  the  ice  of  the 
Far  North  flowed  down  in  mighty  billows  over 
northern  Europe  and  America,  burying  every- 
thing beneath  its  crushing  weight,  and  bringing 
many  forms  of  life  to  a  sudden  and  untimely  end. 
No  doubt  a  considerable  number  of  species  of  ani- 
mals and  plants  perished  before  this  frightful  in- 
vasion. A  notable  instance  among  these  was 
perhaps  that  of  the  American  horse,  which  dis- 
appeared at  about  this  period.  Other  species  sur- 
vived by  a  retreat  to  more  tropical  regions,  to 
return  after  the  invasion  had  spent  its  force.  Still 
others  may  have  survived  by  adapting  themselves 
to  the  changed  conditions,  emerging  as  new  species 
or  well-marked  varieties. 

Among  the  beings  which  passed  unscathed 
through  this  extraordinary  change  in  climate  was 
apparently  man.  And  it  seems  safe  to  affirm 
that  man's  contest  with  the  glacial  conditions, 
whose  force  was  exerted  upon  his  mind  instead 
of  on  his  body,  was  one  of  the  most  potent  influ- 
ences in  the  evolution  of  the  human  race.  Man 
entered  the  contest  at  a  low  level  of  mental  devel- 
opment ;  he  emerged  from  it  at  a  comparatively 
high  level. 

No  one  to-day  questions  that  man  was  an  in- 
habitant of  Europe  during  the  Glacial  Age.     The 


THE    CONFLICT   WITH  NATURE  177 

proofs  of  this  are  too  numerous  and  positive  to  be 
doubted.  He  may  have  inhabited  America  in  the 
same  period,  though  of  this  there  still  remains 
some  doubt.  Claims  have  been  made  of  the  dis- 
covery of  evidences  of  man  in  Europe  long  before 
the  glacial  epoch,  reaching  as  far  back  as  the 
Pliocene  and  even  the  Miocene  Age.  But  these 
claims  have  not  been  established  beyond  question, 
and  the  earliest  generally  acknowledged  traces  of 
man  are  confined  to  glacial  Europe. 

Yet  we  are  forced  to  acknowledge  that  if  man 
existed  in  Europe  during  the  prevalence  of  the  ice 
age,  he,  or  his  ancestor,  must  have  been  there 
before  that  period.  It  is  absolutely  certain  that 
no  animal  accustomed  to  tropical  conditions  would 
have  chosen  this  period  of  extreme  cold  to  migrate 
from  the  warm  tropics  to  the  frozen  north.  The 
fact  that  man  was  in  Europe  during  glacial  times 
is  the  very  strongest  evidence  that  he  reached 
there  during  the  milder  preceding  period,  when 
a  genial  and  uniform  climate  is  believed  to  have 
prevailed  throughout  southern  and  central  Europe. 
If  we  could  accept  as  fact  the  seeming  very  ancient 
evidences  of  man's  handiwork,  we  would  be  obliged 
to  consider  him  an  inmate  of  Europe  long  ages 
before  the  glacial  epoch. 

If,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe,  the  man  of 
Africa  at  that  remote  period  was  the  ancestor  of 
the  forest-dwelling  Pygmy  of  to-day,  lower  in  men- 
tal level  and  more  bestial  in  aspect  than  any  of  his 

N 


178  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

descendants,  yet  much  advanced  in  mind  beyond 
the  man-ape  of  earlier  ages,  then  we  may  with 
some  assurance  accept  this  as  the  type  of  the 
primitive  man  of  Europe.  He  could  have  reached 
there  by  the  land  bridges  which  are  thought  to 
have  connected  Europe  and  Africa  at  that  time, 
one  closing  the  straits  at  Gibraltar,  the  other  ex- 
tending south  from  Italy  by  way  of  Sicily.  These 
were  the  routes  by  which  the  apes  are  supposed  to 
have  entered  Europe,  and  by  which  man  may  well 
have  followed  in  a  later  age.  It  is  possible,  indeed, 
that  man  reached  the  northern  continent  from  an- 
other locality,  the  habitat  of  the  Negrito  race  in 
southeastern  Asia  and  the  Malaysian  islands.  The 
fossil  man-ape  of  Java,  Pithecanthropus,  is  a  strong 
argument  that  this  was  the  region,  or  one  of  the 
regions,  in  which  the  development  of  man  took 
place.  However  this  be,  we  can  be  assured  that 
primitive  man  was  far  more  likely  to  widen  his 
field  of  occupation  through  migration  than  any 
other  animal,  and  may  conjecture  that  he  spread 
over  Europe  and  Asia  in  the  mild  preglacial  times, 
and  perhaps  even  reached  America,  giving  rise  to 
the  early  man  of  that  hemisphere. 

The  advent  of  man  in  Europe  was  not  probably 
followed  by  any  considerable  intellectual  develop- 
ment. The  mild  and  equable  climate  which  at 
that  time  seems  to  have  prevailed,  was  not  likely 
to  make  a  stringent  demand  on  his  mental  re- 
sources.    Food  was  very  likely  abundant  and  eas- 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  1 79 

ily  obtained,  animals  of  the  chase  being  plentiful, 
and  edible  roots  and  fruits  by  no  means  lacking. 
Thus  he  could  readily  obtain  the  means  of  subsist- 
ence by  aid  of  the  arts  and  weapons  employed  by 
him  in  the  tropical  forests.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
some  changes,  both  physical  and  mental,  took 
place,  but  these  were  probably  not  great.  There 
may  have  been  some  change  in  color  and  form,  a 
first  step  toward  the  distinctions  which  separate 
the  white  from  the  black  man,  and  a  degree  of 
mental  adaptation  to  certain  exigencies  of  the  new 
situation  ;  but  in  neither  direction  were  the  varia- 
tions likely  to  be  very  decided. 

Such,  as  we  conceive  it,  was  the  man  of  early 
Europe,  in  great  measure  a  counterpart  of  the  for- 
est nomad  of  the  tropics  of  Africa  and  the  East, 
the  monarch  of  the  animal  kingdom,  but  not  the 
lord  of  the  earth.  He  may  have  made  some  prog- 
ress in  the  contest  with  inanimate  nature.  Vege- 
table food  in  his  new  home  was  less  abundant 
than  in  his  old,  and  the  instigation  to  agricultural 
pursuits  was  stronger.  And  though  Europe  was 
thickly  wooded,  it  probably  presented  more  open 
land  than  Africa.  Both  the  incitement  to  agri- 
culture and  the  facilities  for  its  exercise  were,  in 
all  probability,  greater  than  in  Africa,  and  man 
may  have  begun  to  cultivate  the  earth  here  at  an 
earlier  date  than  in  his  native  realm.  We  are  free 
at  least  to  speculate  that  European  man  gained 
some  slight  knowledge  of  agriculture  in  the  pre- 


l80  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

glacial  period,  but  this  is  doubtful,  and  the  relics 
of  early  man  yield  no  evidence  in  its  favor.  Men- 
tally it  is  questionable  if  he  was  advanced  beyond 
the  level  of  the  least  developed  negro  tribes,  and 
perhaps  not  beyond  that  of  the  forest  pygmies. 

But  at  length  the  shadow  of  a  mighty  coming 
change  began  to  fall  upon  the  fair  face  of  Europe. 
Year  by  year  the  winters  grew  colder.  The  ice 
sheet,  which  was  in  time  to  bury  half  of  Europe 
under  its  chilly  mantle,  had  begun  its  slow  move- 
ment toward  the  south.  It  advanced  very  slowly. 
Centuries  elapsed  during  its  deliberate  march. 
Had  it  moved  with  rapidity,  few  animals  could 
have  survived  its  effects.  Some  of  them  found 
time  for  changes  in  structure  to  fit  themselves  to 
the  new  conditions.  Others  perished  as  the  wintry 
chill  increased.  Constituted  for  tropical  warmth, 
they  were  unable  to  endure  severe  cold.  The  apes 
and  monkeys  may  have  been  among  the  early  vic- 
tims. To-day  the  apes  of  Gibraltar  are  the  only 
ones  existing  in  a  wild  state  in  Europe,  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  they  are  of  an  original  stock.  There 
is  good  reason  to  believe  that  escape  by  migration 
southward  was  cut  off  by  the  sinking  of  the  ancient 
land  bridges,  so  that  the  animals  north  of  the  Medi- 
terranean had  no  choice  between  adaptation  and 
annihilation. 

Among  the  animals  thus  taken  prisoner  by  the 
glacial  chill  was  European  man.  He  could  not 
escape,  and  was  forced  to  remain,  exposed  to  the 


THE   CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  l8l 

alternatives  of  perishing  from  cold  and  hunger, 
or  fitting  himself  to  endure  the  new  conditions 
which  were  coming  upon  his  northern  home,  per- 
haps the  most  adverse  to  animal  life  that  had 
ever  been  known.  Man  was  about  to  be  subjected 
to  an  extraordinary  strain,  which  he  could  only- 
meet  by  an  extraordinary  adaptation. 

The  changes  by  which  he  met  these  new  con- 
ditions were  in  a  very  small  degree  physical ;  they 
were  almost  wholly  mental.  In  all  animals  of  the 
higher  orders,  adaptive  variations  are  apt  to  be 
in  a  measure  of  this  character,  the  body  being  re- 
lieved from  the  need  of  structural  change  through 
some  new  activity  of  the  mind.  In  man  this  was 
undoubtedly  the  case  in  great,  probably  in  very 
great,  measure.  There  may  have  been  an  increase 
in  size  and  strength,  some  variations  in  color,  in 
the  breathing  organs,  in  power  of  resistance  of  the 
cuticle  to  cold,  etc.,  but  the  principal  physical 
change  was  in  a  growth  of  the  brain  and  expan- 
sion of  the  cranium,  giving  rise  to  a  less  bestial 
physiognomy  and  an  advanced  mental  power. 

One  physical  change  that  would  seem  necessary 
to  enable  an  animal  to  endure  severe  cold,  the  devel- 
opment of  a  thick  protective  covering  of  fur  or  hair, 
did  not  take  place  in  man.  The  change  was  more 
likely  in  the  other  direction,  since  the  hairy  cover 
which  is  possessed  by  many  of  the  forest  folk  has 
disappeared.  This  loss  of  hair  by  man  has  been 
referred  by  Darwin  to  sexual  selection,  that  power- 


1 82  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

ful  influence  to  which  animals  seem  to  owe  so 
many  physical  structures  of  no  apparent  use, 
and  some  of  them  seemingly  disadvantageous. 
In  the  case  of  man  in  the  circumstances  now 
under  consideration,  exposed  without  natural  cov- 
ering to  the  growing  chill  of  the  advancing  ice 
sheet,  the  influence  of  sexual  selection  would  cer- 
tainly have  found  a  strong  counteracting  force  in 
natural  selection,  had  not  some  other  means  of 
escaping  the  influence  of  the  cold  been  found. 

As  it  was,  the  difficulty  was  undoubtedly  over- 
came in  great  measure  by  the  adoption  of  artificial 
clothing.  The  mind  came  to  the  aid  of  the  body. 
The  man  who  could  chip  a  stone  into  the  shape 
of  an  axe  or  spear  head,  was  sufficiently  advanced 
mentally  to  conceive  the  idea  of  covering  his  body 
with  leaves  fastened  together  in  some  way,  with 
other  vegetable  fabrics,  or  with  the  skins  of  slain 
animals.  Protection  from  the  cold  was  also  sought 
in  caverns  and  rock  shelters,  and  for  a  very  long 
period  man  remained  a  cave-dweller.  There  is 
hardly  a  cavern  in  western  Europe  in  which  he  has 
not  left  some  trace  of  his  residence.  Where  caves 
were  not  available,  rude  artificial  shelters  were  prob- 
ably built.  Even  the  orang  builds  a  shelter  of  this 
kind,  and  we  can  readily  conceive  of  man  at  a  very 
early  period  making  himself  a  shelter  of  leaves  and 
boughs,  from  which,  as  the  cold  increased,  he  might 
easily  evolve  a  hut  composed  of  a  wooden  frame- 
work covered  with  skins  such  as  he  used  for  clothing. 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  183 

When  and  where  the  most  important  of  discov- 
eries, that  of  fire,  was  made,  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
Fire  arising  from  natural  causes,  such  as  confla- 
grations started  by  hghtning,  no  doubt  early  taught 
man  the  advantage  of  this  agency  as  a  protection 
from  cold,  but  the  artificial  production  of  fire  was 
a  process  too  intricate  to  be  arrived  at  by  undevel- 
oped man  except  as  a  result  of  accident.  It  has 
never  been  achieved,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the 
Andaman  Mincopies.  The  rudiments  of  the  fire- 
making  art  were  possessed  by  primitive  man.  In 
chipping  flints  into  arrow  or  lance  heads  sparks 
must  frequently  have  been  struck  from  the  hard 
stone,  and  at  times  these  may  have  fallen  upon 
and  kindled  inflammable  material.  The  rubbing 
requisite  in  shaping  and  polishing  war  clubs  may 
have  yielded  a  heat  occasionally  causing  fire.  In 
boring  the  holes  necessary  to  make  the  needles 
found  among  primitive  implements,  a  process  re- 
sembling that  of  the  fire-drill  must  have  been 
employed.  In  short,  it  is  not  difficult  to  conceive 
of  more  than  one  way  in  which  the  fire-making  art 
could  have  been  gained  by  accident,  though  it  may 
have  been  late  in  coming,  since  some,  perhaps  all, 
of  the  arts  described  were  not  attained  until  the 
Glacial  Age.  Once  possessed,  this  important  art 
would  scarcely  have  been  suffered  to  disappear. 
With  its  aid  man  could  defy  the  effects  of  the 
glacial  chill,  so  far  as  its  direct  action  upon  his 
body  was  concerned;  and  with  it  he  also  gained 


1 84  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

a  new  and  efficient  means  of  defence  against  car- 
nivorous animals,  which  have  ever  since  feared  fire 
more  than  weapons. 

The  discovery  of  methods  of  artificial  fire-making 
was  perhaps  preceded  by  a  utilization  of  the  flames 
caused  by  lightning  and  other  natural  causes,  the 
fire  being  conveyed  by  torches  from  hearth  to 
hearth  and  kept  alive  with  sedulous  care.  Even 
after  artificial  methods  of  fire-making  were  invented, 
our  savage  ancestors  were  exceedingly  careful  to 
keep  their  fires  alive,  as  the  Mincopies  are  to-day, 
and  this  heedful  attention  left  its  traces  until  very 
recent  times.  So  important  was  the  apparatus  for 
kindling  a  flame  deemed  that  in  India  the  fire-twirl 
was  made  a  god  and  became  one  of  the  chief  deities 
of  that  polytheistic  land.  In  many  other  places, 
especially  in  Persia,  the  element  of  flame  was  raised 
to  the  dignity  of  a  deity  and  worshipped  among 
the  higher  gods.  Among,  the  semi-civilized  Ameri- 
cans the  peril  of  the  loss  of  fire  gave  rise  to  a  serious 
religious  ceremony.  At  certain  set  intervals  all 
the  fires  within  the  limits  of  a  tribe  or  nation  were 
extinguished,  and  a  period  of  gloom,  despondency, 
and  dread  of  the  malignant  powers  succeeded. 
Then  the  "new  fire"  was  kindled  on  the  temple 
altar,  and  the  flame  was  conveyed  by  swift  mes- 
sengers from  hearth  to  hearth  throughout  the  land. 
This  done,  the  period  of  gloom  was  followed  by 
one  of  general  joy  and  festivity.  The  malignant 
deities  were  banished  ;  the  gods  of  light  and  warmth 


THE    CONFLICT  WITH  NATURE  185 

were  dominant  again ;  happiness  and  security  had 
returned  to  man. 

The  beginning  of  the  use  of  clothing,  of  artifi- 
cial shelter,  and  of  fire  formed  one  of  the  most 
vital  periods  in  the  history  of  human  evolution. 
Coincident  with  them  was  the  production  of  a 
much  greater  variety  of  implements  than  had  been 
previously  possessed,  and  many  of  these  much 
superior  to  the  older  and  ruder  forms.  The  strug- 
gle with  the  glacial  cold  had  roused  man's  mind 
out  of  its  old  sluggishness,  and  brought  it  actively 
into  operation  in  devising  means  of  counteracting 
the  perils  of  his  situation  and  fitting  him  to  the 
new  conditions  of  existence. 

Among  the  important  steps  of  progress  was  very 
likely  a  considerable  advance  in  the  use  of  lan- 
guage, enabUng  the  men  of  that  period  more 
readily  to  consult  with  and  advise  one  another,  to 
give  adequate  warning  of  danger,  to  aid  in  the  chase 
or  in  industrial  pursuits,  to  educate  the  young  and 
impart  new  ideas  or  teach  new  discoveries  to  the 
old.  The  mental  powers  of  the  best-trained  indi- 
viduals then  as  now  served  the  whole  community, 
and  nothing  of  value  that  was  once  gained  was 
likely  to  be  lost.  Discovery  and  invention  at  that 
early  period  probably  went  on  with  interminable 
slowness  as  compared  with  the  progress  in  later 
ages,  yet  even  then  new  ideas,  one  by  one,  came 
into  men's  minds,  and  step  by  step  the  methods  of 
life  were  improved. 


1 86  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

One  important  effect  of  the  glacial  chill  needs 
to  be  adverted  to.  The  severity  of  the  weather  was 
not  the  only  thing  to  be  provided  against.  The 
discovery  of  fire  and  the  invention  of  clothing  and 
habitation  were  not  enough  to  insure  man's  pres- 
ervation. For  the  severe  cold  must  have  greatly 
changed  the  conditions  of  the  food  supply,  and  the 
man  of  the  period  found  it  a  difficult  matter  to 
obtain  the  first  necessaries  of  life.  The  easy-going 
man  of  the  earlier  age,  living  amid  an  abundance 
of  fruits  and  vegetables  and  surrounded  by  num- 
bers of  game  animals,  or  dwelling  beside  streams 
which  were  filled  with  easily  taken  fish,  probably 
found  the  question  of  subsistence  one  of  minor 
importance.  The  coming  on  of  the  Glacial  Age 
made  this  question  one  of  major  importance.  The 
supply  of  fruits  and  vegetable  substances  was 
greatly  decreased  by  the  biting  chill,  and  the 
number  of  food  animals  was  correspondingly 
reduced ;  while  through  much  of  the  year  the 
effects  of  frost  drove  the  fish  from  the  streams, 
and  cut  off  effectually  this  source  of  food.  Man 
was  brought  into  a  situation  in  which  only  the  most 
active  exertion  of  his  powers  of  thought  cculd  pre- 
serve him  from  annihilation. 

He  now  found  the  exercise  of  the  art  of  hunting 
more  difficult  than  ever  before,  one  that  needed 
a  new  development  of  courage,  cunning,  alertness, 
and  endurance,  the  scarcity  of  animals  obliging 
him  to  make  long  journeys  and  attack  the  strong- 


THE   CONFLICT   WITH  NATURE  187 

est  creatures.  Whether  or  not  he  possessed  the 
poisoned  arrow,  which  the  Pygmies  now  find  so 
effective,  cannot  be  said,  but  in  all  probability  he 
was  forced  to  invent  new  and  more  destructive 
weapons,  a  necessity  that  gave  fresh  exercise  to 
his  powers  of  invention.  So  far  as  our  actual 
knowledge  goes,  the  art  of  chipping  stones  into 
weapons  and  implements  was  not  possessed  before 
this  period,  and  it  may  have  been  a  result  of  the 
severe  exigencies  of  the  situation  and  the  mental 
stimulation  thence  resulting.  This  art  is  not  pos- 
sessed by  any  of  the  Pygmies,  the  nearest  approach 
to  it  being  the  splitting  of  stone  by  fire  and  using 
the  splinters  as  weapons.  Very  likely  preglacial 
man  was  similarly  destitute  of  this  art. 

Under  the  severe  strain  of  the  glacial  conditions 
the  weak  and  incapable  doubtless  succumbed  to 
the  cold  and  deficiency  of  food;  the  strong  and 
capable  survived,  gained  superior  powers,  devised 
new  weapons  and  implements,  and  became  adapted 
to  a  new  and  decidedly  adverse  situation.  From 
long  depending,  in  considerable  measure,  on  his 
physical  powers,  man  came  to  trust  more  fully  than 
before  in  his  mental  faculties,  the  result  being  a 
much  greater  variation  in  the  size  and  activity  of 
his  brain  than  in  other  portions  of  his  physical  struc- 
ture. While  it  had  become  more  difficult  to  find 
and  capture  food  animals,  he  was  at  the  same  time 
in  greater  danger  from  carnivorous  beasts,  which 
were  forced  by  partial  starvation  to  overcome  their 


1 88  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

dread  of  man.  He  was  thus  obliged  to  become 
as  alert  and  ready  in  defence  as  he  was  in  attack, 
to  associate  himself  more  fully  with  his  fellows  in 
his  hunting  excursions  and  his  other  labors,  and 
to  adapt  the  forms  and  forces  of  nature  still  more 
to  his  needs,  his  career  as  a  tool-making  animal 
being  greatly  stimulated  by  the  necessities  of  his 
situation. 

It  is  conceivable  that  the  art  of  agriculture  may 
have  been  one  of  the  outcomes  of  the  situation  in 
which  man  now  found  himself.  The  decrease  in 
the  food  supply  must  have  put  all  his  powers  of 
invention  to  the  test,  and  the  probable  diminution 
in  number  and  productiveness  of  food  plants  may 
have  served  as  an  instigation  to  the  cultivation  of 
useful  plants,  and  the  preservation  of  their  prod- 
ucts, where  possible,  for  winter  supply.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  in  this  way  and  under  this  stimulation 
agriculture  began,  and  that  it  made  its  way  subse- 
quently from  this  locality  to  more  southern  regions. 
In  this,  however,  we  cannot  go  beyond  conjecture. 

It  seems  useless  to  pursue  this  topic  further,  since 
the  absence  of  facts  forces  us  to  confine  ourselves 
largely  to  suggestions  and  probabilities.  We  have 
arrived  at  two  definite  hypotheses :  first,  that  the 
original  stage  of  man's  progress  upward  from  the 
apes  was  completed  when  he  gained  dominion  over 
the  animal  kingdom  and  attained  the  condition  of 
the  forest  pygmies ;  second,  that  an  advanced 
stage  was  reached  when  he  achieved  the  conquest 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE  189 

of  nature,  so  far  as  overcoming  the  exceedingly  ad- 
verse conditions  of  the  Glacial  Age  was  concerned. 
At  the  close  of  this  period  of  frigid  cold  man 
emerged  as  a  higher  being  than  the  forest  nomad 
or  the  agricultural  people  of  the  tropics,  possessed 
of  much  superior  arts  and  implements  and  with 
largely  enhanced  mental  powers.  The  long  and 
bitter  struggle  for  existence  through  which  he  had 
passed  had  lifted  him  to  a  much  higher  level  in 
the  upward  progress  of  life. 

He  was  a  savage  still,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
struggle  he  settled  down  into  a  second  stage  of 
stagnation.  The  conflict  was  at  an  end,  he  was 
the  victor  in  the  fight,  he  could  rest  upon  his  lau- 
rels and  take  life  easy.  In  addition  to  his  me- 
chanical gains,  man  had  advanced  much  in  social 
and  political  relations,  and  continued  to  advance 
until  his  primitive  form  of  organization  was  per- 
fected. At  the  end  of  it  all  we  find  him  existing 
under  two  conditions,  depending  upon  differences 
in  the  character  of  the  country  in  which  he  lived. 

In  the  steppes  and  deserts  of  Asia  and  the  des- 
erts of  Africa  he  was  a  nomad  herdsman,  his  life 
being  spent  in  the  care  of  his  flocks  and  herds,  his 
political  organization  the  patriarchal,  his  posses- 
sions few,  his  needs  small,  his  mind  at  rest,  his 
progress  largely  at  an  end.  Thus  he  still  lives, 
and  this  organization  and  mode  of  life  still  persist, 
little  affected  by  the  long  centuries  that  have  passed 
and  not  greatly  modified  by  the  many  wars  in  which 


1 90  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

he  has  been  engaged.  Mentally,  the  man  of  the 
steppe  and  the  desert  is  to-day  little  advanced  be- 
yond his  predecessors  of  thousands  of  years  ago. 

In  the  more  fertile  regions  of  the  earth  man 
had  become  an  agriculturist,  each  clan  holding  its 
section  of  the  earth  as  common  property.  A 
different  though  primitive  form  of  political  organ- 
ization arose  here,  that  of  the  village  community, 
in  which  there  was  no  distinction  of  rich  and 
poor,  all  men  were  equal  in  rights  and  privileges, 
all  were  content  with  their  situation,  and  the  men- 
tal condition  was  largely  that  of  stagnation.  This 
political  condition  we  find  to  have  been  wide- 
spread over  the  earth,  alike  in  the  eastern  and 
western  hemispheres,  as  the  one  into  which  all 
developing  agricultural  communities  emerged,  and 
in  which  they  persisted  unchanged  until  forced  to 
adopt  new  relations  through  a  new  influence 
still  to  be  described.  As  the  patriarchal  clan  is 
persistent  on  the  Asiatic  steppes  and  deserts,  so 
is  the  village  community  on  the  Russian  plains 
and  among  the  Aryans  of  Hindostan.  It  has  been 
generally  overcome  in  other  localities,  but  it  was 
broadly  extended  until  within  comparatively  recent 
times,  and  traces  of  it  may  still  be  found  in  many 
parts  of  the  earth. 

The  political  organization  of  these  primitive 
communities  of  herders  and  farmers  was  of  the 
simplest.  Over  the  herding  clan  a  patriarchal 
chief  presided,  his  authority  based  on  his  position 


THE    CONFLICT    WITH  NATURE 


191 


as  representative  of  the  ancestor  of  the  commu- 
nity. The  head  man  of  the  agricultural  clan  was 
elected  by  the  free  choice  of  his  fellows,  his  equals 
in  rank  and  station.  But  the  supposed  most  direct 
descendant  from  the  clan  ancestor  was  apt  to  be 
chosen.  In  both  cases  the  political  organization 
was  of  the  family  type,  being  but  an  extension 
of  family  government,  and  the  widely  prevailing 
system  of  ancestor  worship  had  much  to  do  with 
the  reverence  in  which  the  chief  was  held  and  the 
authority  which  he  exercised. 

The  development  of  this  phase  of  human  prog- 
ress did  not  stop  here.  Kingdoms  and  empires 
arose  as  direct  resultants  of  this  condition  of 
affairs.  In  some  localities,  such  as  Egypt  and 
Babylonia,  the  great  fertility  of  the  soil  in  the 
time  gave  rise  to  a  dense  population,  largely  gath- 
ered in  towns  and  villages,  where  industries  other 
than  agriculture  developed  and  closer  social  rela- 
tions existed.  The  simple  organization  of  the 
village  or  the  clan  was  not  sufficient  for  such  a 
population,  and  a  more  intricate  governmental 
system  arose ;  but  it  seems  to  have  been  simply  an 
extension  of  the  older  system  of  chieftainship, 
based  on  the  family  or  paternal  relation,  and  on 
the  growth  of  rehgious  influence  and  priestly 
control.  It  seems,  in  fact,  to  have  been  through 
the  influence  of  rehgious  ideas  that  men  first  rose 
to  power  and  became  supreme  over  their  fellows. 

We  have  no  concern  here  with  the  development 


192  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

of  religious  systems,  other  than  to  say  that  in  the 
primitive  agricultural  community  a  succession  of 
ideas  of  man's  relation  to  the  unseen  arose,  yield- 
ing, in  addition  to  the  widespread  ancestor  wor- 
ship, a  system  of  shamanism,  or  belief  in  the 
presence  and  power  of  malignant  spirits,  and  one 
of  fetichism,  which  developed  into  mythology,  or 
worship  of  the  great  powers  of  nature.  What 
we  are  concerned  in  is  the  fact  that  from  these 
religious  conceptions  a  priesthood  everywhere  arose, 
beginning  in  the  simple  conjurer  or  the  healer  by 
spells  and  incantations,  and  developing  into  a 
priestly  establishment  whose  leading  members  had 
a  vigorous  control  over  the  people  through  their 
beliefs,  fears,  and  superstitions. 

This  priestly  system  was  the  basis  of  the  first 
imperial  organization.  Kingly  authority  was  not 
gained  at  first  through  power  over  men's  bodies, 
but  through  influence  over  their  minds.  There 
is  much  reason  to  believe  that  the  chief  of  the 
clan  or  tribe,  who  led  in  its  public  worship  and 
was  looked  upon  as  the  representative  of  its  divine 
ancestor,  retained  the  influence  thence  arising  as 
the  tribe  developed  into  the  nation,  adding  the 
power  and  position  of  the  high  priest  to  that  of  the 
tribal  chief. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that  in  this  simple 
and  direct  manner  the  imperial  organization  every- 
where grew  out  of  the  primitive  village  and  patri- 
archal systems.    In  the  early  days  of  Egypt,  before 


THE    CONFLICT   WITH  NATURE  193 

its  era  of  conquest  began,  the  Pharaoh  was  the 
high  priest  of  the  nation,  weak  in  temporal,  strong 
in  spiritual  power;  and  the  political  organization 
in  general  probably  grew  out  of  the  sacerdotal 
establishment.  Very  likely  the  Babylonian  king- 
dom was  organized  in  the  same  manner,  though 
wars  and  changes  of  dynasty  have  obscured  its 
early  state.  In  China  the  patriarch  of  a  nomad 
horde  became  emperor  of  a  nation  retaining  an- 
cestor worship  as  its  chief  religious  system.  He 
held,  and  still  holds,  the  position  of  father  of  his 
people,  the  representative  of  the  original  ancestor, 
and  high  priest  of  the  nation. 

In  India  the  priestly  establishment  was  differ- 
ently organized.  It  was  a  democracy  instead  of 
an  aristocracy.  There  was  no  high  priest  to  seize 
the  reins  of  government.  As  a  result,  no  empire 
arose  in  India.  A  simple  outgrowth  of  the  tribal 
system  developed,  each  tribe  under  its  chief,  while 
the  priesthood  as  a  whole  remained  the  real  rulers 
of  the  people. 

If  we  come  to  America,  we  discover  a  similar 
condition  of  affairs,  the  head  of  the  religious  estab- 
lishment becoming  everywhere  the  head  of  the 
nation.  This  was  the  case  in  Mexico,  where  the 
Montezuma  was  high  priest,  and  derived  his  power 
largely  from  this  position.  It  was  the  case  in 
Peru,  where  the  Inca  was  the  direct  representative 
on  earth  of  the  solar  deity.  It  was  the  case  with 
the  agricultural  communities  of  the  southern  United 
o 


194  ^^^  A^D  HIS  ANCESTOR 

States,  whose  Mico  was  at  once  high  priest  and 
autocrat.  It  was  doubtless  the  case  with  the 
Mound  Builders,  of  whom  these  communities  were 
probably  the  descendants. 

Such  seems  to  have  been  the  final  outcome  of  the 
contest  with  nature,  where  permitted  to  develop 
in  its  natural  and  unobstructed  way.  A  series  of 
empires  of  a  simple  type  of  organization  arose, 
their  rulers  uniting  temporal  and  spiritual  power, 
and  becoming  autocrats  in  a  double  sense,  supreme 
lords  of  body  and  soul.  It  was  in  its  nature  a  per- 
sistent type.  Once  reached,  it  tended  to  continue 
indefinitely,  stagnation  following  the  era  of  growth. 
But  war  and  invasion  have  broken  it  up  every- 
where except  in  China,  a  country  largely  defended 
by  nature  against  invasion  and  inhabited  by  an 
innately  peaceful  people.  As  the  forest  Pygmy 
group  represents  to-day  the  completion  of  the  first 
stage  of  human  evolution,  so  the  patriarchal  empire 
of  China  represents  that  of  the  second.  Stagna- 
tion there  long  since  succeeded  development.  For 
several  thousand  years  China  has  almost  stood  still. 
It  comes  down  to  us  as  the  fossilized  representative 
of  an  antique  system,  physically  active  but  mentally 
inert,  its  organization  rigidly  fixed,  and  not  to  be 
disturbed  unless  the  empire  itself  is  rent  to  pieces. 


XI 

WARFARE   AND    CIVILIZATION 

Long  before  the  second  phase  of  the  evolution 
of  man  had  been  completed  the  third  phase  had 
begun,  that  of  the  conflict  of  man  with  man.  The 
animal  kingdom  once  subdued,  and  nature  made 
man's  friend  and  servant,  the  human  race  increased 
and  multiplied  until  the  borders  of  communities 
met  and  hostile  relations  arose  between  them.  A 
fight  for  place  began,  a  struggle  for  dominion,  a 
fierce  and  incessant  contest  for  supremacy,  and  for 
ages  men  locked  arms  in  a  terrible  and  merciless 
strife,  in  which  the  weak  and  incompetent  steadily 
went  to  the  wall,  the  strong,  daring,  and  aggressive 
rose  to  power  and  control. 

It  was  the  final  act  in  the  great  drama  of  "  natu- 
ral selection,"  which  had  been  played  upon  the  stage 
of  the  earth  since  the  first  appearance  of  living 
forms ;  the  last  and  most  ruthless  of  them  all,  for 
the  instigating  cause  was  no  longer  merely  the 
pressure  for  a  share  of  the  food  supply,  but  to 
this  was  added  the  lust  for  power  and  place,  the 
hunger  for  wealth  and  dominion,  the  insatiable  ap- 
petite for  autocratic  control.  MilUons  upon  mill- 
ions of  men  were  swept  away  by  the  sword,  and 

195 


196  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

by  its  attendant  demons,  famine  and  pestilence ; 
and  still  the  stronger  and  abler  climbed  to  the  top, 
the  weaker  and  inferior  succumbed ;  and  the  intel- 
lectual evolution  of  man  went  on  with  enhanced 
rapidity  as  the  harvest  of  the  sword  was  gathered 
in,  and  the  merciless  reapers  of  men  swept  in  suc- 
cessive columns  over  the  earth,  each  a  stage  higher 
in  mental  ability  than  the  preceding. 

This  phase  of  human  evolution  is  that  of  the  era 
of  human  history.  Before  its  advent  man  had  no 
history.  It  would  be  as  useful  to  attempt  to  give 
the  history  of  the  gorilla  as  of  man  in  the  early 
stages  of  his  progress.  History  is  the  record  of 
individuality,  and  in  primitive  times  equality  and 
communism  prevailed,  and  the  individual  had  not 
yet  separated  himself  from  the  mass.  Man  had 
settled  into  the  dull  inertness  of  a  stagnant  pool, 
and  the  fierce  winds  of  war  were  needed  to  break 
up  his  mental  slothfulness  and  stir  thought  into 
healthful  activity.  There  must  be  leaders  before 
there  can  be  history ;  the  annals  of  mankind  begin 
in  hero  worship ;  the  relations  of  superior  and  in- 
ferior need  to  be  established  ;  and  individual  action 
and  supremacy  are  the  foundations  upon  which 
all  history  is  built.  Only  by  stirring  up  the  deep 
pool  of  human  life  into  seething  turmoil  and 
unrest  could  the  tendency  to  stagnation  be  over- 
come, the  best  and  most  aspiring  rising  to  the  top, 
the  dull  and  heavy  sinking  to  the  bottom,  and  the 
element  of  thought  permeating  the  whole  with  its 
vitalizing  spirit. 


WARFARE  AND    CIVILIZATION 


197 


When  this  phase  of  evolution  is  reached,  we 
cease  for  the  first  time  to  deal  with  species  and 
genera  in  the  mass  and  begin  to  deal  with  indi- 
viduals, who  now  emerge  from  the  general  group 
and  stand  above  and  apart  like  great  signal  posts 
on  the  highway  of  progress.  These  heroes  are  not 
alone  those  of  the  sword.  They  are  the  leaders  in 
art,  in  literature,  in  science,  in  thought,  in  every 
domain ;  the  men  who  stand  above,  supreme  and 
shining,  and  toward  whose  elevation  the  whole 
mass  below  surges  slowly  but  strenuously  upward. 
The  third  phase  of  human  evolution,  therefore,  is 
that  of  the  emergence  of  the  individual  as  the 
leader,  lawgiver,  teacher  of  mankind,  each  leader 
forming  a  goal  for  the  emulation  of  all  below. 
And  this  condition  is  the  legitimate  outcome  of 
war,  which,  terrible  as  it  always  has  been,  was  the 
only  agency  that  could  rapidly  break  up  the  stag- 
nancy of  early  communism  and  send  man  upward 
in  a  swirl  toward  the  heights  of  civilization. 

To  give  the  history  of  this  phase  of  evolution 
would  be  to  give  the  history  of  mankind,  and 
would  be  aside  from  the  purpose  of  this  work. 
All  that  need  be  attempted,  in  support  of  our 
argument,  is  to  present  some  general  deductions 
from  human  history,  indicating  the  leading  features 
of  the  service  man  has  received  from  war. 

Conflict  between  man  and  man  was  at  first 
vague  and  inconsequential.  It  was  only  after 
settled   and    organized    communities,  based  origi- 


198  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

nally  on  the  family  relation,  and  held  together  by 
the  possession  of  property  in  common,  had  been 
formed,  that  war  became  more  effective  in  its 
results.  The  chief  of  these  results,  in  the  early 
days,  were  two :  the  breaking  up  of  the  old 
equality  of  power  and  possession,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  larger  and  more  powerful  communities. 
The  head  man  of  the  village  community,  or  the 
herding  clan,  possessed  some  delegated  authority 
but  no  political  supremacy  over  his  fellows. 
Equality  existed  alike  in  theory  and  in  fact. 
Battle  between  neighboring  clans  was  the  first 
step  toward  breaking  this  up.  The  conquered  clan 
became  subordinated  to  the  victorious  one,  and  the 
chief  of  the  victors,  as  the  representative  of  his  clan, 
exercised  an  authority  over  the  subject  community 
which  he  did  not  possess  at  home.  The  degree  of 
subordination  differed  from  the  mild  form  of  tribute- 
paying  to  that  of  personal  slavery.  But  in  either 
case  we  see  the  old  condition  of  equality  vanishing, 
and  that  of  class  distinctions  and  the  relation  of 
superior  and  inferior  arising,  while  the  power  of 
the  chief  advances  from  a  delegated  authority  to 
an  established  supremacy. 

The  second  outcome  of  this  early  phase  of  war 
was  an  increase  in  the  size  of  political  groups. 
The  conquered  were  forced  to  aid  the  conquerors 
in  war  as  in  peace ;  clans  combined  to  resist  ag- 
gression ;  minor  communities  grew  into  organized 
tribes ;  tribes  developed  into  nations  as  a  result  of 


WARFARE  AND    CIVILIZATION  1 99 

warlike  operations.  This  growth  in  poHtical  or- 
ganization was  a  necessary  and  inevitable  result 
of  continued  warfare.  The  aggressors  gathered 
all  the  strength  possible.  The  assailed  peoples  did 
the  same.  Temporary  alliances  grew  into  perma- 
nent ones.  Larger  armies  were  formed,  larger 
communities  were  organized,  national  development 
advanced  at  a  rate  tenfold,  probably  a  hundred- 
fold, more  rapidly  than  it  would  have  done  had 
peaceful  conditions  persisted. 

Side  by  side  with  tribal  and  national  consolidation 
went  on  the  growth  in  leadership.  The  head  man 
became  a  war  chief,  the  war  chief  a  king.  Suc- 
cess made  him  a  hero  to  his  people.  He  grew  to 
be  tli^  lord  of  conquered  tribes ;  into  his  hands 
fell  the  bulk  of  the  spoils ;  the  relation  of  equality 
of  possessions  vanished  as  the  plunder  taken  by 
the  army  was  distributed  unequally  among  the 
victors.  Below  the  principal  leader  came  his 
ablest  followers,  each  claiming  and  receiving  a 
proportionate  share  in  the  new  division  of  power 
and  wealth.  In  short,  when  the  era  of  war  had 
become  fully  inaugurated,  the  old  social  and  politi- 
cal relations  of  mankind  were  broken  up  with 
great  rapidity ;  equality  of  power  was  replaced  by 
inequality,  which  steadily  grew  more  and  more 
declared;  equality  of  wealth  in  like  manner  van- 
ished; in  all  directions  the  individual  emerged 
from  the  mass,  class  distinctions  became  intricate, 
and  the  relations  of  rich  and  poor,  of  king,  noble. 


200  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

citizen,  and  slave,  completely  replaced  the  old 
communal  organization  of  mankind. 

War  was  the  great  agent  in  this  evolution.  It 
might  have  emerged  slowly  in  peace ;  it  came  with 
almost  startling  rapidity  in  war,  and  reached  a  de- 
gree of  power  on  the  one  hand  and  subordination 
on  the  other  that  could  scarcely  ever  have  appeared 
had  conditions  of  peace  prevailed.  With  this  growth 
of  great  nations  came  a  rapid  development  in  polit- 
ical science,  in  legal  institutions,  in  social  relations. 
An  enormous  advance  was  made,  in  a  limited  period, 
in  the  civilization  of  mankind ;  as  a  result,  not  of 
the  devastation  and  slaughter  of  war,  but  of  its  in- 
fluence upon  human  organization. 

It  was  the  principle  of  reward  for  abiiiLy  to 
which  the  leaders  of  men  owed  their  supremacy. 
When  nations  were  organized  this  same  principle 
took  another  and  very  useful  form.  The  distri- 
bution of  wealth  had  become  strikingly  unequal. 
There  were  endless  grades  of  distinction  between 
the  supremely  wealthy  and  the  absolutely  poor. 
The  wealthy  were  ready  to  lavish  their  money  in 
return  for  articles  of  pleasure  and  luxury.  The 
poor,  in  their  thirst  for  a  share  of  wealth,  were 
strongly  stimulated  to  inventive  activity  in  produc- 
ing new  and  desirable  wares.  Inequality  became 
the  mainspring  of  business  activity  ;  thought  and  in- 
ventive ingenuity  were  strongly  exercised  ;  a  rapid 
progress  went  on  in  the  production  of  new  devices, 
new  methods,  and  new  articles  of  necessity  and  lux- 


IV AR FARE  AND    CIVILIZATION  201 

ury ;  manufacture  flourished,  commerce  increased, 
civilization  appeared,  the  whole  as  a  legitimate  out- 
come of  the  conditions  brought  about  by  war. 

This  phase  of  human  evolution,  as  may  be  seen, 
was  radically  different  from  that  already  considered, 
arising  from  the  development  of  sacerdotal  influ- 
ence and  priestly  power.  They  worked  together, 
no  doubt.  The  establishment  of  the  great  primi- 
tive empires,  as  a  peaceful  process,  was  greatly 
complicated  by  war,  which  tended  steadily  to  in- 
crease the  temporal  power  of  the  ruler  and  enable 
him  in  time  to  control  by  the  sword  alone.  But  it 
is  interesting  to  find  that  long  after  the  old  system 
was  practically  overthrown  its  shadow  still  lay  upon 
the  nations.  The  powerful  war  monarchs  of  As- 
syria led  their  armies  to  conquest  in  the  name  of 
the  national  deity,  whose  vicegerents  they  claimed 
to  be.  The  autocratic  emperors  of  Rome  went  so 
far  as  to  claim  in  some  cases  to  be  gods  them- 
selves. Even  in  modern  Russia  some  of  this  dig- 
nity pertains  to  the  emperor,  as  the  supreme  head 
of  the  national  church.  Old  ideas  are  proverbially 
hard  to  kill. 

But  the  mission  of  the  priesthood  by  no  means 
stopped  here.  The  priests  rose  to  influence  as  the 
teachers  as  well  as  the  leaders  of  the  people.  The 
members  of  this  class,  set  aside  from  manual  occu- 
pations, and  devoted  to  thought  upon  the  relations 
of  man  to  the  divine,  played  an  important  part  in 
the  development  of  the  human  mind.     As  a  result 


202  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

of  their  speculative  activity  of  thought  the  old 
religious  systems  sank  into  the  background ;  the 
simple  worship  of  primitive  times  was  over- 
shadowed by  intricate  mythological  systems, 
splendid  in  worship  and  creed;  cosmogonies  and 
philosophies  were  devised;  and  human  thought, 
once  fairly  set  loose  in  this  field,  went  on  with 
great  energy  and  imaginative  fervor. 

Literature  arose  as  a  result  of  this  activity  of 
thought.  It  took  at  first  the  form  of  hymns, 
speculative  essays,  magical  formulas,  dogmas, 
ordinances  of  worship,  etc.  By  degrees  it  grew 
more  secular  in  form,  until  in  the  end  secular 
literature  arose.  This  was  greatly  stimulated  by 
the  conditions  of  inequality  arising  from  war.  In 
the  same  manner  as  the  reward  for  merit  in 
invention  stimulated  men  to  activity  in  the  me- 
chanical arts,  so  the  hope  of  reward  for  literary 
production  stirred  up  men  to  the  composing  of 
poems,  histories,  and  other  works  of  thought.  In 
both  directions,  physical  and  mental,  men  were 
stimulated  to  the  most  active  exertions  by  the  con- 
ditions of  inequality  in  wealth  and  power,  and  the 
consequent  desire  to  obtain  a  share  of  the  money 
lavished  by  the  rich  and  the  authority  similarly 
lavished  by  the  powerful. 

The  broad  general  view  here  taken  must  suffice 
for  our  consideration  of  this  phase  of  human  evolu- 
tion. It  brings  the  story  of  the  development  of 
man  closely  up  to  the  present  stage  of  political 


WARFARE  AND   CIVILIZATION  203 

and  social  organizations  and  relations.  It  may  be 
said,  in  conclusion  of  this  section  of  our  work, 
that  the  powerful  agency  of  war,  so  active  and 
important  in  the  past,  has  in  great  part  lost  its 
utility  in  the  present,  and  bids  fair  to  be  brought 
to  an  end  before  the  world  is  much  older.  It  is 
no  longer  needed,  nearly  or  quite  all  that  it  is 
capable  of  doing  for  mankind  being  accomplished, 
while  the  equally  powerful  agencies  of  commerce, 
travel,  leagues  of  nations,  and  other  conditions  of 
modern  origin  have  taken  its  place. 

War,  while  yielding  many  useful  results,  has 
given  rise  to  others  whose  utility  is  questionable, 
and  whose  ill-effects  it  will  take  much  time  and 
effort  to  set  aside.  The  inequality  of  power  to 
which  war  gave  rise  continues  in  many  parts  of  the 
world,  and  the  inequality  of  wealth  shows  signs 
of  increase  instead  of  diminution.  Once  useful, 
they  have  developed  to  an  injurious  extent.  The 
result  is  a  state  of  unrest,  discontent,  and  more  or 
less  active  opposition,  which  constitutes  a  condition 
of  permanent  conflict,  a  deep  dissatisfaction  with 
existing  institutions  abnormal  to  a  justly  organized 
society.  War  has  become  in  great  measure  useless ; 
but  the  scaffolding  from  which  it  built  up  the  edifice 
of  civilization  remains,  and  stands  as  a  tottering 
ruin  threatening  to  engulf  mankind  in  its  fall. 

Ever  since  the  triumph  of  autocracy  in  the 
Roman  empire,  the  masses  of  mankind  have 
steadily   protested   against   an   inequality  that  is 


204  ^^^  ^^D  H^^  ANCESTOR 

alien  to  the  natural  rights  of  man.  For  century- 
after  century  the  struggle  against  undue  exercise 
of  power  has  gone  on,  and  the  hereditary  lords  of 
mankind  have  lost,  stage  by  stage,  their  usurped 
power,  until  in  the  modern  republic  they  have  been 
replaced  by  the  servants  and  chosen  agents  of  the 
people.  But  the  autocracy  of  wealth  still  holds  its 
own,  and  is  growing  more  and  more  formidable, 
and  against  this  the  wave  of  opposition  is  now  ris- 
ing. Everywhere  man  is  earnestly  and  sternly 
demanding  an  equitable  distribution  of  the  produc- 
tions of  nature  and  art.  What  the  outcome  of  this 
demand  will  be  it  is  impossible  to  say.  It  must 
inevitably  lead  to  some  readjustment  of  the  wealth 
of  mankind;  but  only  the  slow  process  of  social 
evolution  can  decide  what  this  shall  be. 

We  have  endeavored  in  this  brief  treatise  to 
trace  the  development  of  man  from  his  primeval 
state  as  a  tree-dwelling  animal  in  the  depths  of 
the  tropic  woods,  through  the  phases  of  his  later 
condition  as  an  erect  surface  dweller,  his  conflict 
with  and  dominion  over  the  animal  kingdom,  his 
subsequent  contest  with  the  adverse  powers  of 
nature,  and  his  final  warfare  with  his  fellows  and 
emergence  into  civilization.  Each  of  these  con- 
tests has  left  its  results ;  the  first  in  the  forest 
nomads  of  the  eastern  tropics,  the  second  in  the 
patriarchal  herding  tribes  of  the  steppes  and 
deserts,  the  village  communities  of  Russia  and 
the  paternal  empire  of  China,  the  third  in  the 
enlightened  nations  of  Europe  and  America. 


WARFARE  AND   CIVILIZATION  20 5 

For  how  long  a  period  this  mighty  drama  of 
evolution  has  continued  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
Its  first  phase  must  have  been  of  interminable 
slowness ;  its  second,  while  more  rapid,  still  very 
deUberate ;  its  third  of  much  greater  rapidity,  yet 
extending  over  several  thousands  of  years.  Mill- 
ions of  years  have  probably  passed  away  since  it 
began,  yet  the  period  involved  is  none  too  long  for 
the  magnitude  of  the  results,  whose  greatness  can 
be  seen  if  we  contrast  man's  mental  development 
with  that  of  the  lower  animals  during  this  period. 
Physically,  the  development  of  man  has  been  incon- 
siderable —  much  less  apparently  than  that  of  many 
other  animals.  Mentally,  it  has  been  enormous. 
The  whole  of  nature's  influences,  in  new  and  often 
adverse  situations,  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon 
man's  mind,  and  as  the  result  we  have  civilized  man 
as  contrasted  with  the  anthropoid  ape.  And  the 
end  is  not  yet.  The  era  of  war  in  man's  develop- 
ment is  near  its  close,  and  a  new  era  of  peace, 
under  conditions  of  advanced  mental  and  physical 
activity,  seems  about  to  begin.  Its  outcome  no 
man  can  predict,  but  it  may  far  surpass  in  bene- 
ficial results  all  that  has  gone  before,  and  carry 
man  upward  to  an  extraordinarily  elevated  mental 
plane. 


XII 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY 

The  evolution  of  man  from  his  animal  ancestry- 
has  been  a  composite  phenomenon,  one  by  no 
means  confined  to  the  physical  and  intellectual 
conditions  which  we  have  so  far  considered,  but 
embracing  also  features  of  moral  and  spiritual 
progress.  The  origin  and  growth  of  these  need 
also  to  be  reviewed,  if  we  would  present  a  fully 
rounded  sketch  of  human  evolution.  So  far  as 
his  physical  form  is  concerned,  man  became  prac- 
tically completed  ages  ago,  as  the  supreme  effort 
of  nature  in  the  moulding  and  vitalizing  of  matter. 
When  the  arena  of  the  struggle  for  existence 
became  transferred  from  the  body  to  the  mind, 
variation  in  the  body,  once  so  active,  rapidly  de- 
clined ;  and  with  the  full  employment  of  the  intel- 
lect in  the  conflict  with  nature,  physical  evolution 
ceased,  except  in  minor  particulars,  and  the  organic 
structure  of  man  became  practically  fixed.  The 
human  animal,  therefore,  as  a  physical  species, 
has  reached  a  stage  of  permanence.  And  this 
may  be  regarded  as  the  supreme  result  of  material 
evolution  in  animals  ;  or  at  least  it  may  be  affirmed 

that,  while  man  continues  to  exist,  no  member  of 

206 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY  207 

the  lower  animal  tribes  can  possibly  develop  to 
become  his  rival. 

But  though  man  is  not  markedly  distinct  as  a 
physical  species  from  his  anthropoid  ancestor,  the 
process  of  evolution  has  not  ceased,  but  has  gone 
on  in  him  rapidly  and  immensely.  The  strain  has 
simply  been  transferred  from  the  body  to  the  mind, 
and  to  the  extent  that  the  mental  characteristics 
are  more  flexible  and  yield  more  readily  to  forma- 
tive influences,  the  mind  has  surpassed  the  body 
in  rapidity  of  evolutionary  variation.  Within  a 
period  during  which  the  lower  animals  have  re- 
mained almost  unchanged,  man  has  varied  enor- 
mously in  mental  conditions,  and  to-day  may  be 
looked  upon,  not  merely  as  a  distinct  species,  but 
practically  as  a  new  order,  or  class,  of  animals,  as 
faj:  removed  intellectually  from  the  mammals  below 
him  as  they  are  from  the  insects  or  mollusks. 

If  now  we  turn  from  the  physical  and  intel- 
lectual to  the  ethical  stage  of  development,  it  will 
be  to  perceive  as  marked  and  decided  a  process  of 
evolution.  The  change  has,  perhaps,  been  even 
greater,  since  in  the  lower  animals  the  moral  fac- 
ulties are  more  rudimentary  than  the  intellectual. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  moral  development 
in  man  has  been  much  inferior  to  the  intellectual. 
Therefore,  though  the  foundation  was  lower,  the 
edifice  has  not  reached  nearly  so  great  a  height, 
and  man  to-day  stands  in  moral  elevation  consider- 
ably below  his  intellectual  level. 


208  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

It  was  formerly  the  custom  to  look  upon  man  as 
the  only  intellectual  and  moral  animal,  the  forms 
below  him  being  credited  solely  with  hereditary 
instincts.  This  belief  is  no  longer  entertained 
by  those  familiar  with  the  results  of  modern 
research.  Evidences  of  unquestionable  powers 
of  thought  have  been  traced  in  the  lower  animals, 
imagination  and  reason  being  alike  indicated. 
The  elephant,  for  instance,  is  evidently  a  think- 
ing animal,  and  is  capable  of  overcoming  difficul- 
ties and  adapting  itself  to  new  situations,  using 
methods  not  unlike  those  which  man  himself 
might  display  under  similar  circumstances.  Its 
gratitude  for  favors  and  remembrance  of  and 
revenge  for  injuries  are  evidences  of  its  possession 
of  the  moral  attributes.  The  recorded  instances 
of  displays  of  reason  in  the  dog,  man's  constant 
companion,  are  innumerable.  Intellectual  attri- 
butes are  still  more  pronounced  in  the  ape  tribe, 
as  indicated  in  a  preceding  chapter,  where  it  was 
argued  that  man  began  his  development  in  intellect 
at  a  somewhat  advanced  stage. 

The  same  cannot  be  said  in  regard  to  his  moral 
evolution.  In  this  respect  the  level  from  which 
man  emerged  was  a  much  lower  one.  If  his 
moral  growth  may  be  symbolized  as  a  great  tree, 
it  is  one  not  very  deeply  rooted  in  the  world  below 
him.  Yet  it  doubtless  has  grown  out  of  the  soil 
of  animal  life,  and  its  finer  tendrils  and  fibres  may 
be  traced  to  a  considerable  depth  in  this  fertile  soil. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY  209 

Before  proceeding  with  this  subject,  it  is  impor- 
tant to  devote  some  attention  to  the  characteristics 
of  the  moral  attributes,  concerning  which  there  is 
much  diversity  of  opinion.  There  has  been  abun- 
dance of  theorizing  upon  the  principles  of  ethics, 
thinkers  dividing  themselves  into  two  widely  sepa- 
rated groups.  In  the  one  school,  the  intuitive,  the 
principles  of  morality  are  looked  upon  as  inherent 
in  the  soul  of  man,  unfolding  as  the  plant  unfolds 
from  its  seed.  In  the  other  school,  the  inductive, 
morality  is  claimed  to  be  founded  upon  selfishness, 
the  moving  principle  of  human  actions  being  the 
desire  to  avoid  pain  and  attain  pleasure.  Each 
school  makes  a  strong  argument,  which  goes  far 
to  indicate  that  each  is  based  upon  a  truth,  and 
therefore  that  neither  has  the  whole  truth. 

The  fault  would  appear  to  He  in  the  attempt  to 
make  morality  a  unit.  In  our  view  this  unity  does 
not  exist.  While  both  schools  may  be  partly  right, 
neither  would  seem  to  be  wholly  right,  and  they 
appear  to  be  pulHng  at  the  two  ends  of  a  single 
chain.  Ethics,  in  short,  may  be  regarded  as  com- 
posed of  unUke  halves,  which  unite  centrally  to  form 
a  whole.  It  may  aid  to  reconcile  the  conflicting 
systems  of  theorists  if  it  be  held  that  the  inductive 
half  of  ethics  is  the  product  of  the  reasoning 
powers  and  outer  experience,  the  intuitive  half 
the  product  of  feeling  and  inner  development; 
while  both  meet  and  harmonize  in  life  as  reason 
and  feeling  harmonize  in  the  mind. 


2IO  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

It  is  interesting  to  find  that  it  is  the  intuitive,  not 
the  inductive,  element  of  the  moral  attributes  that 
we  find  principally  developed  in  the  lower  animals. 
This  is  the  outgrowth  of  instinct,  not  of  thought ; 
the  development  of  that  principle  of  attraction 
which  manifests  itself  in  all  nature,  and  which, 
when  associated  with  consciousness,  becomes  what 
we  know  as  love,  affection,  or  sympathy.  It  is  a 
powerful  and  pervading  force  in  all  matter,  in- 
telligent and  unintelligent,  and  in  conscious  beings 
falls  naturally  among  the  emotions.  Like  all  the 
passions,  it  is  instinctive  in  origin,  though  it  may 
come  under  the  control  of  the  intellect  as  the 
mind  develops.  In  the  lower  animal  world  it  is 
manifested  as  a  vigorous  attraction,  the  sexual. 
In  the  higher  animals  this  attraction  expands  and 
grows  complex.  The  attraction  between  the  sexes 
becomes  love,  and  in  its  full  unfoldment  may  join 
two  individuals  together  for  life  and  influence  most 
of  their  actions.  To  the  attraction  between  the 
sexes  should  be  added  that  between  parents  and 
children,  the  parental  and  filial,  and  that  between 
associates,  the  tribal  or  social,  the  latter,  though 
weaker,  of  the  same  character. 

With  these  bonds  reason  has  nothing  to  do.  It 
does  not  form  them  and  would  seek  in  vain  to  sever 
them.  They  belong  to  a  part  of  the  mental  con- 
stitution which  lies  outside  the  kingdom  of  thought, 
and  they,  therefore,  often  act  counter  to  the  selfish 
consideration  of  personal  safety.     The  love  bond. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY  211 

indeed,  in  its  full  strength,  seems  to  constitute  a 
partial  loss  of  individuality.  Mates  will  suffer  pain 
and  endure  physical  injury  for  each  other  or  for 
their  offspring  to  as  great  an  extent  as  if  these 
constituted  a  part  of  themselves,  and  as  if  their 
actions  were  performed  in  self-defence. 

With  this  brief  review  of  the  philosophy  of  the 
ethical  sentiments,  we  may  proceed  to  a  consid- 
eration of  the  facts.  While  the  rudimentary  form 
of  the  sentiment  in  question  is  manifest  far  down 
in  the  descending  grades  of  animal  life,  it  expands 
into  v/hat  we  may  fairly  term  love  or  affection  only 
in  the  higher  forms.  Romanes,  in  his  "Animal 
Intelligence,"  remarks :  "  As  regards  emotions,  it 
is  among  birds  that  we  first  meet  with  a  conspicu- 
ous advance  in  the  tenderer  feelings  of  affection 
and  sympathy.  Those  relating  to  the  sexes  and 
the  care  of  progeny  are  in  this  class  proverbial  for 
their  intensity,  offering,  in  fact,  a  favorite  type  for 
the  poet  and  moralist.  The  pining  of  the  'love- 
bird '  for  its  absent  mate,  and  the  keen  distress  of 
a  hen  on  losing  her  chickens,  furnish  abundant 
evidence  of  vivid  feelings  of  the  kind  in  question. 
Even  the  stupid-looking  ostrich  has  heart  enough 
to  die  for  love,  as  was  the  case  with  a  male  in  the 
Rotund  of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes,  who,  having 
lost  his  mate,  pined  rapidly  away." 

Among  social  and  communal  animals  the  senti- 
ment of  sympathy  widens  to  embrace  all  the  mem- 
bers of   the   tribe,  a  characteristic  which  is  very 


212  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

strongly  manifested  in  so  low  an  organism  as  the 
ant.  As  an  example  of  this  feeling  among  birds, 
Romanes  quotes  an  interesting  illustration  from 
Edward,  the  naturalist.  The  latter  had  shot  and 
wounded  a  tern,  but  before  he  could  reach  it,  the 
helpless  bird  was  carried  off  by  its  companions. 
Two  of  these  took  hold  of  it  by  the  wings  and  flew 
with  it  several  yards  over  the  water.  They  then 
relinquished  their  burden  to  two  others,  and  the 
process  continued  in  this  way  until  they  at  length 
reached  a  rock  at  some  distance.  When  the 
hunter,  eager  for  his  prize,  pursued  them,  the  sym- 
pathetic birds  again  took  up  their  wounded  com- 
panion and  flew  off  with  it  again  over  the  water. 

Abundant  instances  of  this  sentiment  of  social 
affection  could  be  quoted  from  the  mammalia.  It 
is  by  no  means  confined  to  members  of  a  species, 
but  may  extend  to  very  unlike  species.  No  one 
needs  to  be  told  of  the  warm  affection  so  often 
shown  by  the  dog  for  its  master,  a  love  which 
will  lead  it  to  dare  wounds  or  death  in  his  service, 
or  in  the  protection  of  his  property.  This  altruis- 
tic sentiment  strongly  exists  in  the  monkeys.  Ex- 
amples of  the  ardent  feeling  of  these  animals  for 
their  fellows  have  been  given  in  a  preceding  chap- 
ter, and  many  more  might  be  quoted,  if  necessary. 
It  must  suffice  here  to  quote  a  single  further  in- 
stance cited  by  Romanes,  and  relating  to  a  small 
monkey  which  was  taken  ill  on  shipboard,  where 
there  were  several  others  of  different  species. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY  21 3 

"  It  had  always  been  a  favorite  with  the  other 
monkeys,  who  seemed  to  regard  it  as  the  last  born 
and  the  pet  of  the  family ;  and  they  granted  it 
many  indulgences  which  they  seldom  conceded  to 
one  another.  It  was  very  tractable  and  gentle  in 
its  temper,  and  never  took  advantage  of  the  par- 
tiality shown  to  it.  From  the  moment  it  was  taken 
ill,  their  attention  and  care  of  it  redoubled ;  and  it 
was  truly  affecting  and  interesting  to  see  with  what 
anxiety  and  tenderness  they  tended  and  nursed  the 
little  creature.  A  struggle  often  ensued  between 
them  for  priority  in  these  offices  of  affection ;  and 
some  would  steal  one  thing  and  some  another, 
which  they  would  carry  to  it  untasted,  however 
tempting  it  might  be  to  their  own  palates.  They 
would  take  it  up  gently  in  their  forepaws,  hug  it 
to  their  breasts,  and  cry  over  it  as  a  fond  mother 
would  over  her  suffering  child." 

With  the  human  race  the  love  sentiment  does 
not  usually  display  the  singleness  of  energy  shown 
among  the  lower  animals.  It  is  affected  and  often 
checked  in  its  development  by  an  intricate  series  of 
influences,  which  act  on  savage  and  civilized  man 
alike.  The  family  formed  the  primitive  human 
group,  its  linking  elements  being  the  sexual  attrac- 
tion between  man  and  woman  and  the  fervent  affec- 
tion between  parents  and  children.  These  feelings, 
while  strong  in  certain  directions,  were  crude  and 
uneven.  In  savage  tribes  to-day  the  wife  is  an  ill- 
treated  drudge.     Yet  the  husband  will  protect  his 


214  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

wife  and  children  from  danger  at  risk  of  his  life. 
The  maternal  instinct  seems  still  stronger.  The 
mother  often  acts  as  if  the  child  were  an  actual 
part  of  herself.  Danger  or  injury  to  it  produces 
in  her  a  mental  agony,  the  close  equivalent  of  its 
fear  or  pain,  and  she  will  endure  suffering  and  peril 
in  its  protection  with  an  impulse  beyond  the  control 
of  reason. 

This  sentiment,  in  a  weakened  form,  extended 
from  the  family  to  the  group  ;  and  the  success 
of  man  in  gaining  the  mastery  over  the  other 
animals  was  doubtless  greatly  aided  by  the  strong 
bond  of  social  affinity  existing  between  the  mem- 
bers of  a  group.  They  worked  together  in  a 
fuller  sense  than  any  other  animals  except  the 
ants  and  bees. 

From  the  original  social  group  another  and 
closer  community  seems  gradually  to  have  de- 
veloped, the  group  of  kindred.  This  was  a  natural 
outgrowth  from  the  family,  whose  bond  of  affection 
was  extended  to  include  more  distant  relatives, 
until  there  emerged  the  organized  group  of  kin- 
dred known  as  the  ''Village  Community,"  which 
seems  everywhere  to  have  preceded  civilization. 
This  bond  of  kindred  gradually  extended,  combin- 
ing men  into  larger  and  larger  groups,  until  the 
clan,  the  horde,  and  the  tribe  emerged,  their  mem- 
bers all  linked  together  by  the  reality  or  the  fiction 
of  common  descent.  Such  was  the  form  of  organi- 
zation that  existed  in  Greece  and  Rome  in  their 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY  21  5 

early  days,  and  made  its  influence  felt  far  down 
into  their  later  history.  It  existed  indeed,  at  some 
period,  over  almost  all  the  earth. 

As  the  group  widened,  the  bond  of  sympathy 
weakened.  Love  in  the  family  found  its  counter- 
part in  fellow-feeling  in  the  tribe,  in  patriotism 
in  the  nation.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  desire 
for  personal  protection  is  one  of  the  strong  in- 
fluences which  bind  men  into  societies.  The 
hope  of  advantage  in  other  directions  and  the 
pleasure  of  social  intercourse  are  other  combin- 
ing forces.  Yet  below  these  rational  elements 
has  always  abided  the  emotional  element,  the 
sympathetic  attraction  which  binds  kindred  closely 
together,  and  which  exerts  some  degree  of  influ- 
ence on  all  mxcmbers  of  the  same  group  or  nation. 

The  development  of  the  ethical  principle  in  man- 
kind is  largely  due  to  the  extension  of  the  senti- 
ment of  social  sympathy.  For  ages  it  was  confined 
to  the  immediate  group.  Such  was  the  case  even 
in  civilized  Greece,  intellectually  one  of  the  most 
advanced  of  peoples,  but  morally  very  contracted. 
The  Greeks  were  long  divided  into  minor  groups, 
with  the  warmest  sentiment  of  patriotism  uniting 
the  members  of  each  community,  while  their  com- 
mon origin  bound  all  the  Hellenes  together.  But 
this  feeling  failed  to  cross  the  borders  of  the  nar- 
row peninsula  of  Greece,  all  peoples  beyond  these 
borders  being  viewed  as  barbarians,  in  whose  pleas- 
ures and  pains  no  interest  was  felt,  and  whose  mis- 


2l6  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

fortunes  produced  no  stir  of  sympathy  in  the  Gre- 
cian heart.  Even  Aristotle  taught  that  Greeks 
owed  no  more  duties  to  barbarians  than  to  wild 
beasts,  and  a  philosopher  who  declared  that  his 
affection  extended  to  the  whole  people  of  Greece 
was  thought  to  be  remarkably  sympathetic. 

The  Romans  were  equally  narrow  in  their  early 
days,  and  not  until  the  empire  extended  to  the 
outer  borders  of  the  civilized  world  did  this  nar- 
rowness give  way  to  a  more  expanded  sympathy. 
The  brotherhood  of  mankind,  indeed,  was  taught 
by  Socrates,  Cicero,  and  others  of  the  ancient 
moral  philosophers,  yet  these  seeds  of  philosophy 
fell  in  very  sterile  soil  and  took  root  with  discourag- 
ing slowness.  Philosophers  elsewhere  taught  the 
dogma  of  universal  love,  —  Confucius  among  the 
Chinese,  Gautama  among  the  Hindoos,  —  but  their 
teachings  have  borne  little  fruit  in  the  great,  stag- 
nant peoples  of  Asia,  in  whom  the  narrowness  of 
semicivilization  prevails. 

The  teachings  of  Christ,  whose  code  of  morality 
was  the  intuitive  one,  "  Love  one  another,"  have 
been  far  more  effective.  Christianity  became  the 
religion  of  Europe,  since  then  the  most  progressive 
part  of  the  world,  and  with  every  step  of  progress 
in  civilization  the  Christ  doctrine  of  charity  and 
sympathy  reached  a  higher  and  broader  stage. 
To-day  it  has  attained,  in  Europe  and  America,  a 
wide  degree  of  development,  and  the  vast  exten- 
sion of  human  intercourse  through  the  mediums  of 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY  21/ 

travel,  commerce,  and  telegraphic  communication 
is,  for  the  first  time  in  human  history,  beginning 
to  lift  the  doctrine  of  the  universal  brotherhood  of 
man  from  the  plane  of  a  philosophic  dogma  toward 
that  of  an  established  fact.  The  range  of  sympathy 
is  narrow  yet,  selfishness  predominates,  the  truly 
altruistic  are  the  few,  the  feebly  sympathetic  and 
coldly  selfish  are  the  many ;  yet  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  there  has  been  a  great  development  of 
altruism  during  the  nineteenth  century,  and  the 
promise  of  the  coming  of  Christ's  kingdom  on  the 
earth  is  greater  to-day  than  at  any  former  period 
in  the  history  of  mankind. 

The  love  principle  is  the  innate  moral  element 
of  the  universe.  Its  rudimentary  form  is  the  at- 
traction between  atoms,  which  expands  into  the 
attraction  between  spheres.  We  see  a  develop- 
ment of  it  in  the  magnetic  and  electric  attractions, 
and  a  higher  one  in  the  sexual  attraction  that  exists 
in  the  lowest  organisms.  Its  expansion  continues 
until  it  reaches  the  high  level  of  human  love  and 
social  sympathy.  But  throughout  its  whole  de- 
velopment consciousness  takes  no  part  in  its  ori- 
gin. While  conscious  of  its  existence,  we  do  not 
consciously  call  it  into  existence.  Men  and  women 
"  fall  in  love  "  ;  they  do  not  reason  themselves  into 
affection.  Those  we  love  become  in  a  measure  a 
part  of  ourselves,  we  feel  their  sufferings  and  en- 
dure their  afflictions,  not  through  the  nerves  of  the 
body,  but  through  the  finer  ones  of  the  mind,  — 


2l8  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

a  plexus  of  spiritual  nerves  which  stretch  unseen 
from  soul  to  soul.  So  strong  is  this  sympathetic 
affinity  that  Comte  was  induced  to  look  upon  man- 
kind as  an  organism,  and  it  gave  rise  in  the  mind 
of  Leslie  Stephens  to  the  conception  of  a  common 
"social  tissue." 

Love  and  law  rule  the  universe.  It  is  this  sec- 
ond moral  element,  that  of  law,  which  we  have 
next  to  consider.  Inductive  morality  had  its  origin 
in  experience  ;  it  assumed  the  form  of  social  restric- 
tion, then  of  fixed  law  and  precept,  and  culminated 
in  the  sense  of  duty  —  a  conscientious  avoidance 
of  that  which  was  thought  to  be  wrong,  and  an 
earnest  desire  to  do  what  was  looked  upon  as  right. 

The  history  of  this  phase  of  morality  differs 
essentially  from  that  of  the  phase  we  have  just 
considered.  The  sense  of  duty,  the  conscientious 
sentiment,  so  highly  developed  in  man,  seems 
largely  non-existent  in  the  lower  animals,  so  far  as 
observation  has  taught  us.  Yet  it  is  not  quite 
wanting,  its  rudiment  is  there,  and  this  rudiment 
is  capable  of  development.  It  may  be,  indeed, 
that  a  highly  developed  sense  of  duty  exists  in  the 
ants  and  bees,  to  judge  from  their  diligent  labors 
for  the  benefit  of  the  community.  But  the  clear- 
est examples  of  conscientious  performance  of  duty 
are  those  seen  in  the  case  of  the  dog,  in  which 
animal  intimate  association  with  man  has  devel- 
oped something  strongly  approaching  a  con- 
science.    A  dog  needs  only  to  be  well  treated  to 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY  219 

display  a  sense  of  dignity  and  a  self-respect  analo- 
gous to  these  feelings  in  man.  A  sensitive  resent- 
ment against  injustice  in  high-caste  and  carefully 
nurtured  dogs  has  often  been  observed;  while 
shame  for  an  act  which  the  animal  knows  to  be 
forbidden  has  been  seen  in  a  hundred  instances. 
The  sense  of  duty  is  occasionally  very  strongly 
developed.  Many  striking  examples  of  this  are 
on  record.  A  dog  will  often  defend  his  master's 
property  with  the  greatest  devotion,  letting  no 
temptation  draw  him  away  from  the  path  of  duty. 

An  instance  has  been  related  to  the  writer  in 
which  an  extraordinary  display  of  this  feeling  was 
made.  A  gentleman,  on  coming  home  at  night, 
found  he  had  forgotten  his  key,  and  attempted  to 
enter  the  house  by  the  window  of  a  room  in  which 
his  dog  was  on  duty  as  a  night-watch.  To  his  sur- 
prise and  annoyance  the  animal  would  not  permit 
him  to  enter,  and  attacked  him  every  time  he  tried 
to  climb  in.  The  animal  knew  him  well,  responded 
to  his  attempts  to  fondle  it,  but  the  moment  he 
made  an  attempt  to  enter  the  window  it  became 
hostile  and  seemed  ready  to  spring  upon  him.  In 
its  small  brain  was  the  feeling  that  no  one,  master 
or  stranger,  had  the  right  to  enter  that  house  at 
night  by  the  window,  and  it  was  there  to  perform 
its  duty  without  regard  to  persons.  In  the  end, 
the  gentleman  was  obliged  to  leave  and  seek 
shelter  elsewhere. 

The   development   of    the   sense   of    duty   and 


220  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

the  growth  of  moral  restriction  in  primitive  man 
were  probably  very  slow,  much  more  so  than 
the  evolution  of  intelligence.  The  social  habit  of 
man  doubtless  rendered  necessary,  at  an  early 
period,  some  restraints  on  the  actions  of  individu- 
als, and  these  in  time  gained  the  strength  of  un- 
written law ;  but  many  of  them  were  scarcely  what 
we  should  call  moral  obligations.  Many  such  re- 
strictions exist  among  savage  tribes  to-day,  and  to 
these  we  must  turn  for  examples  of  their  character. 
We,  for  instance,  look  upon  theft  and  lying  as 
immoral  practices,  but  such  is  not  the  case  with 
savages  generally,  most  of  whom  will  steal  if  the 
opportunity  offers,  while  they  will  lie  in  so  trans- 
parent and  useless  a  manner  as  to  indicate  that 
they  see  nothing  wrong  in  this  practice.  And 
yet  the  aborigines  of  India,  many  of  whom  are 
very  immoral  according  to  our  standard,  are 
often  strongly  averse  to  untruthfulness.  "  A  true 
Gond,"  says  Mr.  Grant,  "  will  commit  a  murder, 
but  he  will  not  tell  a  lie."  It  is  well  known  that 
truthfulness  was  one  of  the  chief  virtues  of  the 
ancient  Persians,  a  virtue  that  was  accompanied 
by  much  which  we  would  call  immoral.  The 
Hindoo  devotee  is  exceedingly  tender  of  the  lives 
of  animals,  while  he  is  often  callous  to  human 
suffering.  Disregard  of  human  suffering,  indeed, 
showed  itself  strongly  through  all  the  past  ages, 
men  being  slaughtered  with  as  little  compunction 
as  if  they  were  so  many  wild  beasts,  while  fright- 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY  221 

ful  tortures  were  inflicted  with  an  extraordinary 
absence  of  humane  feeling.  And  these  excesses 
were  committed  by  persons  who  in  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  life  were  frequently  tender  in  feeling  and 
conscientious  in  action. 

In  truth,  moral  development  from  this  point  of 
view  has  always  shown  a  one-sidedness  that  goes 
far  to  discredit  the  doctrine  of  intuitive  concep- 
tions of  right  and  wrong.  The  indications  are 
strong  that  rules  of  conduct  are  not  inherent  in  the 
human  mind,  that  men  become  moral  to  the  extent 
that  they  are  taught  the  principles  of  justice,  and 
grow  one-sided  in  their  ideas  of  virtue  through 
incompleteness  in  their  moral  education.  What 
we  call  sinfulness  is  largely  a  matter  of  custom 
and  convention.  Men  cannot  properly  be  said  to 
sin  when  their  actions  are  checked  by  no  conscien- 
tious scruples,  and  what  one  people  would  consider 
atrocious  instances  of  wrong-doing,  might  be 
looked  upon  as  innocent  and  even  estimable  by 
a  people  with  a  different  moral  standard.  Reli- 
gion has  much  to  do  with  this.  The  human  sacri- 
fices and  cannibal  feasts  of  the  Aztec  Indians,  for 
instance,  were  regarded  by  them  as  good  deeds, 
obligations  which  they  owed  to  their  gods.  Yet 
this  people  had  attained  to  some  of  the  refined 
practices  and  moral  ideas  of  civilization. 

The  leading  principles  of  correct  human  conduct 
are  few  and  simple.  They  were  arrived  at  early  in 
the  history  of  human  thought,  and  little  has  since 


222  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

been  added  to  them.  They  arose  as  results  of 
human  experience,  as  necessary  principles  of  re- 
straint in  developing  communities,  and  were  nearly 
all  extant  in  prehistoric  times  as  the  unwritten  laws 
of  social  organization.  What  creed-makers  did  was 
to  put  these  ancient  axioms  of  morality  on  record, 
and  offer  them  to  the  world  as  codes  of  religious 
observance.  They  could  not  have  been  of  primitive 
origin,  since  the  most  of  them  do  not  exist  among 
the  savage  tribes  still  with  us.  There  is  nothing, 
indeed,  to  show  that  any  idea  of  sinfulness  exists 
in  the  minds  of  the  lowest  savages,  the  rules  of 
conduct  which  they  possess  being  such  regulations 
as  are  necessary  to  the  existence  of  the  most  un- 
developed community. 

Of  the  various  codes  of  morals,  much  the  best 
known  to  us  is  that  given  to  the  Israelites  by 
Moses,  the  famous  ''Ten  Commandments."  The 
most  of  these  —  as  of  all  such  codes  —  were  evi- 
dently legal  in  origin,  rules  necessary  for  the  exist- 
ence of  a  civilized  society,  restrictions  controlling 
the  conduct  of  men  toward  one  another.  It  was  the 
creed-makers  who  first  gave  such  legal  restrictions 
the  strength  of  moral  obligations,  and  announced 
that  their  infraction  would  be  punished  by  divine 
agencies,  even  if  they  should  escape  human  retri- 
bution. 

Many  hurtful  acts,  indeed,  came  to  be  viewed  as 
crimes  alike  against  God  and  man,  and  punishable 
in  the  interests  of  both.     Political  and  moral  obli- 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MORALITY  223 

gations  thus  shaded  together;  some  of  the  evils  of 
the  world  being  punished  by  human  agencies  alone, 
some  by  divine,  some  by  both.  It  must  be  said, 
however,  that  throughout  the  whole  progress  of 
human  civilization  the  influence  of  moral  obliga- 
tions has  been  rising,  while  the  necessity  for 
political  laws  has  declined  in  like  proportion.  In 
ancient  times  the  penalties  for  crimes  against  the 
community  were  terribly  severe,  while  religion 
threatened  those  who  offended  the  divine  powers 
with  frightful  future  punishments.  The  necessity 
for  such  severe  restrictions  has  long  been  decreas- 
ing, and  the  more  vividly  it  is  felt  that  immoral 
deeds  or  debased  thoughts  and  purposes  will  be 
visited  by  a  spiritual  retribution,  the  less  necessity 
is  there  for  laws  and  penalties.  Thus  the  limita- 
tion of  human  actions  by  government  is  growing 
less  necessary  than  of  old,  in  conformity  with  the 
growing  sense  of  spiritual  degradation  in  evil  and 
of  spiritual  elevation  in  good  deeds.  Mild  laws 
have  succeeded  the  severe  edicts  of  the  past,  and 
with  a  considerable  section  of  the  community  re- 
strictive laws  have  become  useless,  conscience 
taking  the  place  of  law.  In  such  men  the  im- 
pulse to  evil  deeds  dies  unfulfilled,  and  the  penalty 
for  wrong-doing  within  themselves  may  be  more 
severe  than  that  which  the  community  would  in- 
flict. In  the  souls  of  such  men  sits  a  spiritual 
tribunal  by  which  evil  thoughts  are  tried  and 
punished  before  they  can  develop  into  evil  acts. 


224  M^^  ^^'^  ^^^  ANCESTOR 

This  consideration  of  the  development  of  the 
moral  principles  and  dogmas  has  been  necessarily 
brief.  In  what  direction  it  is  leading  must  be  evi- 
dent to  all,  and  we  can  with  assurance  look  forward 
to  a  condition  of  human  society  in  which  conscience 
will  have  become  a  stronger  element  of  the  intel- 
lect than  now,  the  sense  of  moral  obligation  a  more 
prevailing  sentiment,  and  legal  restriction  a  less 
necessary  governmental  requirement. 

Of  all  the  isms  of  the  day  altruism  is  far  the 
noblest  and  most  promising.  In  this  opponent  of 
selfism,  this  regard  for  the  rights  and  happiness 
of  others  equally  with  our  own,  we  find  the  link 
which  binds  together  the  two  halves  of  the  moral 
principle.  The  love  sentiment  on  the  one  hand, 
the  sense  of  duty  on  the  other,  meet  and  combine 
in  the  zeal  of  altruism,  for  which  a  truly  developed 
conscience  is  merely  another  term.  Those  who 
have  the  good  of  others  strongly  at  heart,  who  are 
truly  Christian  in  a  practical  realization  of  the 
brotherhood  of  mankind,  can  safely  be  set  free 
from  all  the  reins  of  law,  and  trusted  to  do  the 
right  thing  from  innate  feeling  instead  of  outside 
compulsion.  And,  trusting  in  the  future  full  de- 
velopment of  the  altruistic  sentiment,  we  can  hope- 
fully look  forward  to  a  time  in  which  the  moral  law 
will  exist  alone,  conscience  become  the  controlling 
force  in  human  actions,  and  government  let  fall 
the  whip  which  it  has  so  long  held  in  threat  over 
the  shrinking  back  of  man. 


XIII 

man's  relation  to  the  spiritual 

The  purpose  of  this  work  has  been  to  trace  the 
evolutionary  origin  of  man,  in  his  ascent  from  the 
lower  animal  world  to  his  full  stature  as  the  phys- 
ical and  intellectual  monarch  of  the  kingdom  of 
life.  But  to  round  up  the  story  of  human  evolu- 
tion it  seemed  necessary  to  consider  man  from  the 
moral  standpoint,  and  it  now  appears  equally  desir- 
able to  review  his  relations  to  the  spiritual  element 
of  the  universe.  Having  dealt  with  the  develop- 
ment of  man  as  a  mortal  being,  we  have  now  to 
regard  him  as  a  possibly  immortal  being. 

This  outlook  into  the  supreme  domain  of  nature 
lifts  us,  for  the  first  time  in  our  work,  definitely 
above  the  lower  world  of  life.  There  is  nothing 
to  show  that  the  animals  below  man  have  any 
conception  of  the  spiritual.  It  is  true  that  there 
are  various  statements  on  record  which  seem  to 
indicate  in  some  animals,  the  horse  and  the  dog, 
for  instance,  a  dread  of  unseen  powers,  a  recogni- 
tion of  some  element  in  nature  which  is  invisible  to 
the  eyes  of  man.  But  what  these  facts  indicate, 
what  influences  affect  the  rudimentary  intellect  of 
these  animals  in  such  instances,  no  one  is  able  to 

Q  225 


226  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

say.  Though  some  vague  recognition  of  powers 
or  existences  beyond  the  visible  may  arise  in  their 
narrow  minds,  it  does  not  probably  pass  beyond 
the  level  of  instinct,  and  doubtless  lies  almost 
infinitely  below  man's  conception  of  the  spiritual. 
In  this  stage  of  intellectual  development,  then, 
we  have  to  do  with  a  condition  which  seems  to 
belong  solely  to  man,  or  has  but  a  germinal  exist- 
ence in  the  lower  organic  kingdom. 

In  fact,  primitive  man  may  well  have  been  as 
devoid  of  the  conception  of  a  realm  of  spirit  as  was 
his  anthropoid  ancestor.  The  lowest  savages  of 
to-day  are  almost,  if  not  quite,  lacking  in  such  a 
conception,  and  are  destitute  of  anything  that  can 
fairly  be  called  religion.  Where  apparent  reli- 
gious ideas  exist  among  them  we  cannot  be  sure  to 
what  extent  they  have  been  infused  by  civilized 
visitors,  or  how  far  ardent  missionaries,  in  their 
anxiety  to  discover  some  trace  of  religion  in  sav- 
ages, have  themselves  inadvertently  suggested  the 
beliefs  which  they  triumphantly  record.  The 
Pygmies  of  Africa,  the  Negritos  of  Oceanica,  and 
various  debased  tribes  elsewhere,  may  possibly  be 
quite  destitute  of  native  religious  conceptions,  at 
least  of  a  higher  grade  than  those  which  move 
the  horse  and  dog  to  a  dread  of  the  unseen.  It 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  tribes  have  for 
thousands  of  years  been  in  some  degree  of  contact 
with  more  developed  races  and  subject  to  educa- 
tive influences,  and  the  crude  reUgious  conceptions 


MAN'S  RELATION  TO    THE  SPIRITUAL      22/ 

which  some  travellers  attribute  to  them  may  well 
have  been  derived,  not  original. 

Investigation  in  this  field  certainly  gives  us 
abundant  warrant  to  believe  that  primitive  man, 
on  whose  mind  no  influences  of  education  could 
act,  was  destitute  of  religion,  and  that  man's  con- 
ception of  the  unseen  arose  gradually,  as  one  im- 
portant phase  of  the  development  of  his  intellect. 
Any  attempt  to  trace  the  stages  of  this  religious 
development  is  far  beyond  our  purpose,  even  if 
we  were  capable  of  doing  it.  It  must  suffice  to 
say  that  man  everywhere,  when  he  emerges  into 
history  as  a  semicivilized  being,  is  abundantly  sup- 
plied with  mythological  and  other  religious  concep- 
tions which  indicate  a  long  preceding  evolution 
in  this  field  of  thought. 

For  extended  ages  the  realm  of  the  unseen  has 
been  acting  upon  the  mind  of  man ;  filling  him 
with  dread  of  malevolent  and  reverence  for  benef- 
icent powers,  inspiring  him  to  acts  of  worship, 
peopling  his  imagined  heavens  with  imagined 
deities,  and  giving  rise  to  an  extraordinary  variety 
of  deific  tales  and  mythological  ideas.  The  liter- 
ature of  this  subject  would  fill  a  library  in  itself, 
and  is  almost  abundant  enough  to  supply  one  with 
reading  for  a  lifetime.  Yet  it  is  largely,  if  not 
wholly,  ideal ;  it  is  in  great  part  based  on  false  con- 
ceptions and  misdirected  imaginings ;  it  rarely 
adduces  evidence,  and  such  evidence  as  is  offered 
is  always  questionable ;   in  short,  scientific  investi- 


228  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

gation  and  the  critical  pursuit  of  facts  have  taken 
no  part  in  the  development  of  religious  systems, 
and  a  deep  cloud  of  doubt  envelops  them  all. 

It  is  by  no  means  our  purpose  to  seek  to  throw 
discredit  on  any  of  the  great  religions  of  the  world. 
To  say  that  they  have  been  products  of  evolu- 
tion is  not  to  invalidate  them.  Much  that  is  true 
and  solid  has  arisen  through  evolution.  To  say 
that  they  lack  scientific  evidence  is  not  to  question 
their  validity.  Many  of  the  subjects  with  which 
they  deal  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  scientific  evi- 
dence. Science  has  hitherto  dealt  strictly  with  the 
physical ;  it  has  made  almost  no  effort  to  test  the 
claims  of  the  spiritual.  In  fact,  the  highest  of 
these  claims,  that  of  the  existence  of  a  deity,  must 
lie  forever  beyond  its  reach.  God  may  exist,  and 
science  grope  for  Him  through  eternity  in  vain. 
Finite  facts  can  never  gauge  the  infinite.  Proofs 
and  disproofs  alike  have  been  offered  of  the  exist- 
ence of  an  infinite  deity,  but  the  problem  remains 
unsolved.  None  of  these  proofs  or  disproofs  are 
positive  ;  they  all  depend  on  ideal  conceptions,  and 
ideas  are  always  open  to  question ;  positive  facts 
on  either  side  of  the  argument  are,  and  are  always 
likely  to  be,  wanting,  and  the  belief  in  God  must 
be  based  on  other  than  scientific  grounds. 

But  when  we  come  down  to  the  lower  levels  of 
the  domain  of  the  spiritual  we  find  ourselves  on 
firmer  ground.  Here  we  are  dealing  with  the 
finite,  not  with  the  infinite,  and  nothing  that  is 


MAN'S  RELATION   TO    THE   SPIRITUAL      229 

finite  can  lie  beyond  the  boundaries  of  investiga- 
tion, however  long  it  may  take  to  reach  it.  The 
question  of  the  existence  of  spirits,  for  instance,  — 
that  much  mooted  problem  of  the  immortality,  or 
at  least  of  the  future  existence,  of  man,  which 
forms  so  prominent  an  element  in  modern  reli- 
gion,—  dwells  within  the  possible  reach  of  sci- 
ence, and  the  attempt  to  deal  with  it  by  scientific 
evidence  may  reasonably  be  made.  When  we  pass 
beyond  the  realm  of  the  senses  we  find  ourselves 
in  a  kingdom  peopled  by  stupendous  forms  and 
forces,  —  space,  time,  matter,  energy,  and  perhaps 
infinite  consciousness,  —  all  in  their  ultimate  con- 
ditions too  vast  for  the  finite  mind  to  grasp,  all  pre- 
senting problems  open  to  speculation,  but  beyond 
the  reach  of  demonstration.  But  below  these  lie 
finite  possibilities  which  the  human  mind  may  now 
be,  or  may  become,  capable  of  comprehending,  and 
prominent  among  these  lies  the  problem  just  men- 
tioned, that  of  the  existence  of  a  spiritual  substra- 
tum in  man,  a  soul  which  is  capable  of  surviving 
the  death  of  the  body.  This  is  a  subject  with  which 
all  of  us  are  deeply  and  intimately  concerned,  and 
it  may  be  well  to  close  this  volume  with  a  brief 
glance  at  its  status  as  a  scientific  question. 

The  belief  in  the  immortality  of  man  is  compara- 
tively modern  in  origin.  There  is  no  satisfactory 
evidence  that  any  such  belief  existed  among  the  old 
Jews,  or  that  it  arose  in  Palestine  before  the  time 
of  Christ.     It  arose  at  an  earlier  period  in  India 


230  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

and  Persia,  but  everywhere  it  was  late  in  its  appear- 
ance as  a  well-defined  doctrine.  Yet,  while  positive 
evidence  is  wanting,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
crude  and  vaguely  formulated  ideas  of  the  exist- 
ence of  man  after  death  have  been  very  long  en- 
tertained. The  traditions  of  all  peoples  that  have 
a  faith  above  that  of  fetichism  contain  stories  of 
the  apparition  of  spirits  of  human  origin,  and  when 
we  reach  civilized  peoples  and  more  advanced  re- 
ligions we  find  these  in  abundance.  The  annals 
of  Christendom  are  full  of  them.  They  are  equally 
abundant  in  the  centres  of  other  developed  forms 
of  faith.  If  we  could  accept  these  legends  of  the 
emergence  of  spirits  through  the  thin  veil  that 
separates  time  from  eternity  as  established  facts, 
the  problem  would  no  longer  need  solution.  As 
it  stands,  however,  the  great  mass  of  such  narra- 
tives are  utterly  lacking  in  evidence  of  a  character 
which  science  can  admit.  They  are  bare,  un- 
sustained  statements,  thousands  of  which  would 
be  far  outweighed  by  a  single  one  fortified  by 
demonstrated  facts.  Occasionally,  indeed,  the 
story  of  an  apparition  has  been  closely  investi- 
gated, and  there  are  a  few  cases  of  this  kind 
handed  down  from  the  past  which  seem  reason- 
ably well  established.  But  any  statement  coming 
from  prescientific  days  is  open  to  doubt ;  methods 
of  investigation  then  were  not  what  they  are  now ; 
the  dogma  of  the  existence  of  spirit  is  too  impor- 
tant a  one  to  be  accepted  on  any  but  incontroverti- 


MAN'S  RELATION  TO    THE   SPIRITUAL      23 1 

ble  evidence,  and  the  vast  sum  of  statements  of 
apparitions  which  have  come  to  us  from  the  past, 
or  from  the  non-scientific  peoples  of  the  present, 
must  be  dismissed  with  the  one  verdict,  not  proven. 

There  is  one  important  fact,  however,  connected 
with  the  question  of  spiritual  appearances,  which 
is  worthy  of  some  consideration.  It  is  a  fixed  rule 
in  the  history  of  opinions  that  beliefs  founded  on 
imagination  or  misconception  have  declined  with 
the  advance  of  enlightenment,  and  many  concep- 
tions, once  strongly  entertained,  have  faded  and 
vanished  in  the  light  of  new  thought,  or  where 
retained  have  been  so  only  by  the  ignorant  and 
unreasoning.  It  is  of  interest  to  find  that  this 
has  not  been  the  case  with  the  belief  in  spiritual 
manifestations.  This  has  held  its  own  to  the 
present  time,  and,  while  it  is  largely  sustained  by 
the  unintelligent  and  credulous,  it  can  claim  a 
considerable  body  of  intelligent  adherents  to-day, 
even  in  the  most  enlightened  nations.  This  belief, 
known  as  spiritism,  with  the  manifestations  upon 
which  it  is  founded,  lies  open,  therefore,  to  modern 
scientific  investigation ;  and  this  has  been,  to  some 
extent,  appHed  to  it,  with,  in  various  instances, 
rather  startling  results. 

It  is  certainly  of  significance  to  find  that  a  num- 
ber of  prominent  scientists,  thoroughly  skilled  in 
the  arts  of  investigation,  have  attacked  this  prob- 
lem with  the  purpose  of  annihilating  it,  and  have 
ended  in  becoming  convinced  of  the  truth  of  spirit- 


232  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

ism.  It  may  suffice  to  mention  two  of  the  most 
striking  instances  of  this.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
spiritist  propaganda,  Robert  Hare,  a  famous  chem- 
ist of  Philadelphia,  entered  upon  an  investigation  of 
the  so-called  spiritual  phenomena  with  the  declared 
purpose  of  proving  them  to  be  fraudulent.  His 
observations  were  long  continued,  his  tests  varied 
and  delicate,  and  he  ended  by  himself  ardently 
adopting  the  belief  he  had  set  out  to  abolish. 
Somewhat  later  William  Crookes  of  London,  an 
equally  famous  chemist  and  physicist,  entered 
upon  a  similar  investigation,  and  with  like  results. 
The  tests  applied  by  these  men  were  strictly  scien- 
tific, and  of  the  exhaustive  character  suggested  by 
their  long  experience  in  chemical  investigation;  and 
their  conversion  to  the  tenets  of  spiritism,  as  a  re- 
sult of  their  experiments,  was  a  marked  triumph  to 
the  advocates  of  the  doctrine.  Various  others  of  ad- 
mitted high  intelligence,  who  made  a  similar  investi- 
gation and  were  similarly  converted,  might  be  named. 
Two  of  the  best  known  of  these  were  Judge  Ed- 
monds, of  the  circuit  court  of  New  York,  and 
Alfred  Russel  Wallace  of  England,  who  shared 
with  Darwin  the  honor  of  originating  the  theory  of 
natural  selection. 

While  these,  and  others  of  scientific  education, 
were  converted  to  spiritism,  many  investigators 
came  to  an  opposite  conclusion,  while  a  similar 
negative  result  was  reached  in  the  investigations 
of  several  committees  of  scientists.      The  latest 


MAN'S  RELATION  TO   THE   SPIRITUAL      233 

and  most  persistent  attempt  to  search  into  the  real- 
ity of  phenomena  of  this  character  has  been  that 
made  by  the  London  Society  for  Psychical  Re- 
search, whose  investigations  have  extended  over 
years  and  have  yielded  numerous  striking  and  sug- 
gestive results.  The  most  important  conclusion 
at  which  the  members  of  this  society  have  so  far 
arrived  is  the  hypothesis  of  Telepathy,  or  the 
seeming  power  of  one  mind  to  influence  the 
thoughts  of  another,  occasionally  over  long  dis- 
tances, in  a  method  that  appears  analogous  to  that 
of  wireless  telegraphy.  The  evidences  in  favor 
of  this  doctrine  are  so  numerous  that  it  has  been 
somewhat  widely  accepted,  and  the  title  applied  to 
it  has  come  into  general  use.  It  indicates,  if  true, 
remarkable  powers  in  the  mind  of  man,  capabilities 
that  seem  far  to  transcend  those  of  the  ordinary 
intellectual  activities. 

This  is  one  side  of  the  case.  The  other  side 
now  calls  for  presentation.  This  is  that  the  great 
body  of  scientists  utterly  reject  the  theory  of 
spiritism,  and  look  upon  its  manifestations  as  due 
to  fraud,  misconception,  credulity,  or  some  other 
of  the  weaknesses  to  which  human  nature  is  liable. 
As  regards  the  opinions  arrived  at  by  the  promi- 
nent scientists  mentioned,  these  men  are  looked 
upon  by  their  fellows  of  the  great  scientific  body 
as  mentally  warped,  or  as  having  allowed  them- 
selves to  be  victimized  by  impostors.  The  fact 
that  Professor  Crookes  has  continued  one  of  the 


234  ^AN  A^^  HI^  ANCESTOR 

most  acute  and  deep  searching  of  investigators 
into  the  phenomena  of  physics,  and  that  his  results 
in  this  direction  are  accepted  without  question,  and 
that  Professor  Wallace  is  acknowledged  to  be  one 
of  the  leading  thinkers  of  the  day,  has  not  sufficed 
to  clear  them  of  the  doubt  which  rests  upon  their 
sanity  or  their  critical  judgment  in  this  particular, 
and  the  very  attempt  of  any  one  to  investigate  the 
so-called  spiritual  manifestations  is  widely  looked 
upon  as  an  evidence  of  credulity  or  some  greater 
mental  weakness. 

This  result  may  seem  singular,  yet  it  is  not  with- 
out abundant  warrant.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  phenomena  in  question  differ  essentially 
in  character  from  those  with  which  science  is 
usually  concerned.  The  field  of  scientific  investi- 
gation is  distinctly  the  material ;  the  facts  with 
which  it  deals  are  those  apparent  to  the  senses,  or 
which  can  be  tested  by  material  instruments ;  its 
discoveries  are  generally  susceptible  of  but  one 
interpretation  ;  its  methods  are  capable  of  being 
indefinitely  repeated,  and  its  results,  if  justly  in- 
terpreted, are  unvarying  in  character.  None  of 
these  postulates  fully  applies  to  the  spiritistic  in- 
vestigation. Here  the  conditions  differ,  the  results 
vary,  the  methods  can  rarely  be  exactly  repeated, 
conscious  beings,  instead  of  unconscious  instru- 
ments, are  the  agents  employed,  and  the  secret 
thoughts  and  purposes  of  such  agents  are  very 
likely  to  vitiate  the  result,  and  open  a  field  of 


MAN'S  RELATION  TO    THE   SPIRITUAL      235 

doubt  which  does  not  exist  in  the  investigation  of 
the  inorganic  world. 

This  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  doubt  of  scien- 
tists. It  is  not  the  only  or  the  chief  cause.  The 
latter  is  the  fact  that  the  claims  of  spiritism  lift 
man  into  an  entirely  new  domain  of  the  universe, 
remove  him  from  the  great  field  of  the  material 
with  which  he  is  physically  affiliated  and  to  which 
his  senses  are  closely  adapted,  and  place  him  in  a 
region  beyond  the  scope  of  the  senses,  a  vast  king- 
dom which  is  held  to  underlie  or  subtend  the  physi- 
cal, and  which  the  ordinary  outlook  of  the  scientist 
fails  to  perceive.  It  requires  no  strain  of  the 
imagination  to  admit  the  existence  of  a  new  con- 
stituent of  the  atmosphere.  It  requires  a  great 
strain  to  admit  the  existence  of  a  new  constituent 
of  the  universe,  a  vast  spiritual  substratum  to  the 
domain  of  matter.  Religion,  with  its  ideal  tests, 
has  long  maintained  this  to  be  a  fact.  Science, 
with  its  rigid  material  tests,  sternly  questions  it,  and 
demands  that  the  existence  of  an  inhabited  spirit- 
ual realm  shall  be  incontestably  proved  by  scien- 
tific evidence  before  it  can  be  accepted. 

This  demand  is  a  reasonable  one.  The  world  is 
growing  rapidly  more  scientific,  and  the  old  method 
of  arriving  at  conclusions  is  daily  losing  strength. 
Beliefs  based  on  ideal  or  imaginative  postulates, 
once  strong,  are  now  weak.  Faith  founded  on 
ancient  authority  is  active  still,  but  promises  to 
become  obsolete.     The  way  of  science  is  growing 


236  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

to  be  the  way  of  the  world,  and  in  the  time  to 
come  intelligent  men  will  doubtless  demand  in- 
contestable evidence  of  any  fact  which  they  are 
asked  to  accept. 

As  regards  the  phenomena  in  question,  however, 
it  cannot  be  said  that  they  have  been  fairly  or  fully 
investigated  by  scientists.  They  have  been  set 
down  as  the  work  of  charlatans,  and  their  apparent 
results  ascribed  to  fraud,  collusion,  credulity,  and 
mental  obliquity  in  general.  The  fact,  that  of  the 
scientists  who  have  exhaustively  investigated  the 
spiritistic  phenomena,  a  considerable  number  have 
accepted  them  as  valid,  has  had  no  effect  upon 
scientists  as  a  body,  who,  in  this  particular,  occupy 
the  position  which  they  accuse  non-scientists  of 
maintaining,  that  of  forming  opinions  without  in- 
vestigating phenomena. 

This  attitude  of  the  scientific  world  toward  these 
problematical  occurrences  is  quite  comprehensible. 
Throughout  the  nineteenth  century  the  attention 
of  scientists  has  been  almost  wholly  directed 
toward  the  investigation  of  the  forms  and  forces 
of  matter,  the  phenomena  and  principles  of  the 
visible  universe.  In  this  they  entered,  at  the 
opening  of  the  century,  upon  an  almost  virgin 
field,  which  they  have  wrought  with  great  diligence 
and  with  remarkable  results.  It  is  very  possible, 
however,  that  in  the  twentieth  century  no  such 
undivided  allegiance  will  be  given  to  the  phenom- 
ena of  matter,  but  that  the  attention  of  scientists 


MAN'S  RELATION  TO   THE   SPIRITUAL      237 

will  be  largely  diverted  from  the  physical  to  the 
psychical  field  of  investigation,  which  may  prove 
to  be  a  far  broader  and  more  intricate  domain  than 
we  now  have  any  conception  of. 

Psychical  phenomena  have  attracted  some  atten- 
tion during  the  recent  century.  One  by  one  the 
problems  of  hypnotism,  unconscious  cerebration, 
double  consciousness,  telepathy,  spiritism,  and  the 
like,  all  at  first  set  down  as  unworthy  of  considera- 
tion, have  forced  themselves  upon  the  attention  of 
observers,  and  each  of  them  has  been  found  to 
present  conditions  amply  worthy  of  investigation. 
This  work  has  hitherto  been  performed  by  occa- 
sional individuals,  but  the  number  of  workers  in 
experimental  psychics  is  steadily  increasing,  and 
their  domain  of  research  broadening,  and  we  may 
reasonably  look  forward  to  results  approaching, 
perhaps  exceeding,  in  interest  those  reached  in 
material  investigation. 

There  is  a  whole  world  before  us,  that  of  the 
mind  and  its  phenomena,  fully  equal  in  interest 
and  importance  to  the  world  of  matter,  and 
presenting  as  numerous  and  difficult  problems. 
Hitherto  it  has  largely  been  dealt  with  from  the 
ideal  or  metaphysical  standpoint;  only  recently 
has  it  been  subjected  to  physical  analysis,  and 
already  with  striking  results.  During  the  century 
before  us  it  is  likely  to  attract  a  wide  and  active 
circle  of  investigators,  with  what  results  it  is  im- 
possible to  predict.     This  is  the  only  way  in  which 


238  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR 

the  problem  of  the  existence  or  non-existence  of  a 
spiritual  life  can  be  solved  to  the  satisfaction  of 
those  of  a  scientific  turn  of  mind,  and  this  solution 
must  be  left  to  the  future  to  attain. 

In  the  present  work  we  are  concerned  with 
man's  past  rather  than  his  future.  It  is  what 
man  has  come  from,  not  what  he  is  going  to,  that 
forms  the  subject  of  our  inquiries.  We  have  been 
led  into  these  remarks  simply  as  an  outcome  of  a 
brief  consideration  of  man's  relations  to  the  spirit- 
ual element  of  the  universe,  and  may  close  our 
work  with  the  suggestion  that  the  problem  of 
human  evolution  may  be  immensely  greater  than 
that  involved  in  the  study  of  the  ancestry  of  man. 


^,iSSSuBW«t. 


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which  makes  for  manliness  and  high  ideals. 

HUTCHINSON.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  HILLS.  A  Book  about 
Mountains  for  General  Readers.  By  Rev.  H.  W.  Hutchinson. 
12mo.     Illustrated,     xv  +  357  pages. 

"A  clear  account  of  the  geological  formation  of  mountains  and 
their  various  methods  of  origin  in  language  so  clear  and  untech- 
nical  that  it  will  not  confuse  even  the  most  unscientific."  — 
Boston  Evening  Transcript. 


ILLINOIS  GIRL.  A  PRAIRIE  WINTER.  By  an  Illinois  Girl. 
16mo.     164  pages. 

A  record  of  the  procession  of  the  months  from  midway  in  Septem- 
ber to  midway  in  May.  The  observations  on  Nature  are  accurate 
and  sympathetic,  and  they  are  interspersed  with  glimpses  of  a 
charming  home  life  and  bits  of  cheerful  philosophy. 

INGERSOLL.  WILD  NEIGHBORS.  OUTDOOR  STUDIES  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES.  By  Ernest  Ingersoll.  12mo. 
Illustrated,     xii  +  301  pages. 

Studies  and  stories  of  the  gray  squirrel,  the  puma,  the  coyote, 
the  badger,  and  other  burrowers,  the  porcupine,  the  skunk,  the 
woodchuck,  and  the  raccoon. 

INMAN.  THE  RANCH  ON  THE  OXHIDE.  By  Henry  Inman. 
12mo,     Illustrated,     xi  +  297  pages. 

A  story  of  pioneer  life  in  Kansas  in  the  late  sixties.  Adventures 
with  wild  animals  and  skirmishes  with  Indians  add  interest  to  the 
narrative. 

JOHNSON.  CERVANTES'  DON  QUIXOTE.  Edited  by  Clifton 
Johnson.    12mo.     Illustrated,     xxiii  +  398  pages. 

A  well-edited  edition  of  this  classic.  The  one  effort  has  been  to 
bring  the  book  to  readable  proportions  without  excluding  any  really 
essential  incident  or  detail,  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  the  text 
unobjectionable  and  wholesome. 

JUDSON.  THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION.  By 
Harry  Pratt  Judson.  12mo.  Illustrations  and  maps, 
xi  +  359  pages. 

The  cardinal  facts  of  American  History  are  grasped  in  such  a 
way  as  to  show  clearly  the  orderly  development  of  national  life. 

KEARY.  THE  HEROES  OF  ASGARD:  TALES  FROM  SCANDI- 
NAVIAN MYTHOLOGY.  By  A.  and  E.  Keary.  12mo. 
Illustrated.     323  pages. 

The  book  is  divided  into  nine  chapters,  called  "The  ^Esir," 
"How  Thor  went  to  Jotunheim,"  "Frey,"  "The  Wanderings  of 
Freyja,"  "  Iduna's  Apples,"  "Baldur,"  "The  Binding  of  Fcnrir," 
"The  Punishment  of  Loki,"  "Ragnarok." 


KING.     DE  SOTO  AND  HIS  MEN  IN  THE  LAND  OF  FLORIDA. 

By  Grace  King.     12mo.     Illustrated,     xiv  +  326  pages. 

A  story  based  upon  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  accounts  of  the 
attempted  conquest  by  the  armada  which  sailed  under  De  Soto  in 
1538  to  subdue  this  country.  Miss  King  gives  a  most  entertain- 
ing history  of  the  invaders'  struggles  and  of  their  final  demoralized 
rout;  while  her  account  of  the  native  tribes  is  a  most  attractive 
feature  of  the  narrative. 

KINGSLEY.  MADAM  HOW  AND  LADY  WHY:  FIRST  LESSONS 
IN  EARTH  LORE  FOR  CHILDREN.  By  Charles  Kingsley. 
12mo.     Illustrated,     xviii+321  pages. 

Madam  How  and  Lady  Why  are  two  fairies  who  teach  the  how 
and  why  of  things  in  nature.  There  are  chapters  on  Earthquakes, 
Volcanoes,  Coral  Reefs,  Glaciers,  etc.,  told  in  an  interesting  man- 
ner. The  book  is  intended  to  lead  children  to  use  their  eyes  and 
ears.  ^ 

KINGSLEY.  THE  WATER  BABIES:  A  FAIRY  TALE  FOR  A 
LAND  BABY.  By  Charles  Kingsley.  12mo.  Illustrated. 
330  pages. 

One  of  the  best  children's  stories  ever  written;  it  has  deservedly 
become  a  classic. 

LANGE.  OUR  NATIVE  BIRDS:  HOW  TO  PROTECT  THEM 
AND  ATTRACT  THEM  TO  OUR  HOMES.  By  D.  Lange. 
12mo.     Illustrated,     x  +  162  pages. 

A  strong  plea  for  the  protection  of  birds.  Methods  and  devices 
for  their  encouragement  are  given,  also  a  bibUography  of  helpful 
literature,  and  material  for  Bird  Day. 

LOVELL.      STORIES    IN    STONE    FROM   THE   ROMAN  FORUM. 

By  Isabel  Lovell.     12mo.     Illustrated,     viii  +  258  pages. 

The  eight  stories  in  this  volume  give  many  facts  that  travelers 
wish  to  know,  that  historical  readers  seek,  and  that  young  students 
enjoy.     The  book  puts  the  reader  in  close  touch  with  Roman  life. 

McFARLAND,      GETTING    ACQUAINTED    WITH    THE    TREES. 

By  J.  Horace  McFarland.     Svo.     Illustrated,    xi  4-  241  pages. 

A  charmingly  written  series  of  tree  essays.  They  are  not 
scientific  but  popular,  and  are  the  outcome  of  the  author's  desire 
that  others  should  share  the  rest  and  comfort  that  have  come  to 
him  through  acquaintance  with  trees. 


MAJOR.     THE    BEARS    OF    BLUE    RIVER.     By  Charles  Major. 
12mo.     Illustrated.     277  pages. 

A  collection  of  good  bear  stories  with  a  live  boy  for  the  hero 
The  scene  is  laid  in  the  early  days  of  Indiana. 

MARSHALL.  WINIFRED'S  JOURNAL.  By  Emma  Marshall 
12mo.     Illustrated.     353  pages. 

A  story  of  the  time  of  Charles  the  First.  Some  of  the  characters 
are  historical  personages. 

MEANS.  PALMETTO  STORIES.  By  Celina  E.  Means.  12mo. 
Illustrated,     x  +  244  pages. 

True  accounts  of  some  of  the  men  and  women  who  made  the 
history  of  South  Carolina,  and  correct  pictures  of  the  conditions 
under  which  these  men  and  women  labored. 

MORRIS.  MAN  AND  HIS  ANCESTOR:  A  STUDY  IN  EVOLU- 
TION. By  Charles  Morris.  16mo.  Illustrated,  vii  +  238 
pages. 

A  popular  presentation  of  the  subject  of  man's  origin.  The 
various  significant  facts  that  have  been  discovered  since  Darwin's 
time  are  given,  as  well  as  certain  lines  of  evidence  never  before 
presented  in  this  connection. 

NEWBOLT.  STORIES  FROM  FROISSART.  By  Henry  Newbolt. 
12mo.     Illustrated,     xxxi  +  368  pages. 

Here  are  given  entire  thirteen  episodes  from  the  "Chronicles" 
of  Sir  John  Froissart.  The  text  is  modernized  sufficiently  to  make 
it  intelligible  to  young  readers.  Separated  narratives  are  dove- 
tailed, and  new  translations  have  been  made  where  necessary  to 
make  the  narrative  complete  and  easily  readable. 

OVERTON.  THE  CAPTAIN'S  DAUGHTER.  By  Gwendolen 
Overton.     12mo,     Illustrated,     vii  +  270  pages. 

A  story  of  girl  life  at  an  army  post  on  the  frontier.  The  plot  is 
an  absorbing  one,  and  the  interest  of  the  reader  is  held  to  the  end. 

PALGRAVE.  THE  CHILDREN'S  TREASURY  OF  ENGLISH 
SONG.  Selected  and  arranged  by  Francis  Turner  Palgrave. 
16mo.     viii-l-302  pages. 

This  collection  contains  168  selections  —  songs,  narratives^ 
descriptive  or  reflective  pieces  of  a  lyrical  quality,  all  suited  to  thft» 
taste  and  understanding  of  children. 


8 

PALMER.     STORIES    FROM    THE    CLASSICAL    LITERATURE 
OF   MANY   NATIONS.     Edited  by  Bertha  Palmer.     12mo. 

XV  +  297  pages. 

A  collection  of  sixty  characteristic  stories  from  Chinese,  Japa- 
nese, Hebrew.  Babylonian,  Arabian,  Hindu,  Greek,  Roman, 
German,  Scandinavian,  Celtic,  Russian,  Italian,  French,  Spanish, 
Portuguese,  Anglo-Saxon,  English,  Finnish,  and  American  Indian 
sources. 

RIIS.     CHILDREN  OF  THE  TENEMENTS.     By  Jacob  A.  Riis. 
12mo.     Illustrated,     ix  -|-  387  pages. 

Forty  sketches  and  short  stories  dealing  with  the  lights  and 
shadows  of  life  in  the  slums  of  New  York  City,  told  just  as  they 
came  to  the  writer,  fresh  from  the  life  of  the  people. 

SANDYS.     TRAPPER    JIM.     By    Edwyn    Sandys.      12mo.    Illus- 
trated,    ix  -h  441  pages. 

A  book  which  will  delight  every  normal  boy.     Jim  is  a  city  lad 

who   learns  from  an  older  cousin  all   the  lore  of  outdoor  life  — 

trapping,   shooting,  fishing,  camping,   swimming,   and  canoeing. 

The  author  is  a  well-known  writer  on  outdoor  subjects. 

SEXTON.     STORIES    OF    CALIFORNIA.     By    Ella    M.    Sexton. 
12mo.     Illustrated,     x  +  211  pages. 

Twenty-two  stories  illustrating  the  early  conditions  and  the 
romantic  history  of  California  and  the  subsequent  development 
of  the  state. 

SHARP.     THE  YOUNGEST  GIRL  IN  THE  SCHOOL.     By  Evelyn 
Sharp.     12mo.     Illustrated,     ix  4-  326  pages. 

Bab,  the  "  youngest  girl,"  was  only  eleven  and  the  pet  of  five 
brothers.  Her  ups  and  downs  in  a  strange  boarding  school  make 
an  interesting  story. 

SPARKS.     THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NATION:    AN  OUTLINE 
OF  UNITED  STATES  HISTORY  FROM   1776    TO    1861.     By 

Edwin  E.  Sparks.     12mo.     Illustrated,     viii  4-  415  pages. 

The  author  has  chosen  to  tell  our  history  by  selecting  the  one 
man  at  various  periods  of  our  affairs  who  was  master  of  the  situ- 
ation and  about  whom  events  naturally  grouped  themselves. 
The  characters  thus  selected  number  twelve,  as  "  Samuel  Adams, 
the  man  of  the  town  meeting"  ;  "Robert  Morris,  the  financier  of 
the  Revolution";  "Hamilton,  the  advocate  of  stronger  govern- 
ment," etc.,  etc. 


THACHER.  THE  LISTENING  CHILD.  A  selection  from  the 
stories  of  English  verse,  made  for  the  youngest  readers  and 
hearers.     By  Lucy  W.  Thacher.     12mo.    xxx  +  408  pages. 

Under  this  title  are  gathered  two  hundred  and  fifty  selections. 
The  arrangement  is  most  intelligent,  as  shown  in  the  proportions 
assigned  to  different  authors  and  periods.  Much  prominence  is 
given  to  purely  imaginative  writers.  The  preliminary  essay,  "A 
Short  Talk  to  Children  about  Poetry,"  is  full  of  suggestion. 

WALLACE.  UNCLE  HENRY'S  LETTERS  TO  THE  FARM 
BOY.     By  Henry  Wallace.     16mo.     ix  +  180  pages. 

Eighteen  letters  on  habits,  education,  business,  recreation,  and 
kindred  subjects. 

WEED.      LIFE     HISTORIES     OF     AMERICAN     INSECTS.      By 

Clarence  Moores  Weed.     12mo.     Illustrated,     xii  +  272  pages. 

In  these  pages  are  described  by  an  enthusiastic  student  of 
entomology  such  changes  as  may  often  be  seen  in  an  insect's 
form,  and  which  mark  the  progress  of  its  life.  He  shows  how  very 
wide  a  field  of  interesting  facts  is  within  reach  of  any  one  who  has 
the  patience  to  collect  these  little  creatures. 

WELLS.  THE  JINGLE  BOOK.  By  Carolyn  Wells.  12mo. 
Illustrated,     viii  +  124  pages. 

A  collection  of  fifty  delightful  jingles  and  nonsense  verses.  The 
illustrations  by  Oliver  Herford  do  justice  to  the  text. 

WILSON.     DOMESTIC    SCIENCE   IN   GRAMMAR   GRADES.      A 

Reader.     By  Lucy  L.  W.  Wilson.     12mo.     ix  +  193  pages. 

Descriptions  of  homes  and  household  customs  of  all  ages  and 
countries,  studies  of  materials  and  industries,  glimpses  of  the 
homes  of  literature,  and  articles  on  various  household  subjects. 

WILSON.  HISTORY  READER  FOR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 
By  Lucy  L.  W.  Wilson.  16mo.  Illustrated,  xvii  +  403 
pages. 

Stories  grouped  about  the  greatest  men  and  the  most  striking 
events  in  our  country's  history.  The  readings  run  by  months, 
beginning  with  September. 

WILSON.  PICTURE  STUDY  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS.  By 
Lucy  L.  W.  Wilson.     12mo.     Illustrated. 


10 

Ninety  half-tone  reproductions  from  celebrated  paintings  both 
old  and  modern,  accompanied  by  appropriate  readings  from  the 
poets.     All  schools  of  art  are  represented. 

WRIGHT.     HEART    OF   NATURE.      By   Mabel   Osgood   Wright. 
12mo.     Illustrated. 

This  volume  comprises  "Stories  of  Plants  and  Animals," 
"Stories  of  Earth  and  Sky,"  and  "Stories  of  Birds  and  Beasts," 
usually  published  in  three  volumes  and  known  as  "The  Heart  of 
Nature  Series."  It  is  a  delightful  combination  of  story  and 
nature  study,  the  author's  name  being  a  sufficient  warrant  for  its 
interest  and  fidelity  to  nature. 

WRIGHT.     FOUR-FOOTED  AMERICANS  AND  THEIR  KIN.     By 

Mabel  Osgood   Wright,  edited  by  Frank  Chapman.     12mo. 
Illustrated,     xv  +  432  pages. 

An  animal  book  in  story  form.  The  scene  shifts  from  farm  to 
woods,  and  back  to  an  old  room,  fitted  as  a  sort  of  winter  camp, 
where  vivid  stories  of  the  birds  and  beasts  which  cannot  be  seen 
at  home  are  told  by  the  campfire,  —  the  sailor  who  has  hunted  the 
sea,  the  woodman,  the  mining  engineer,  and  wandering  scientist, 
each  taking  his  turn.  A  useful  family  tree  of  North  American 
Mammals  is  added. 

WRIGHT.     DOGTOWN.      By     Mabel     Osgood     Wright.     12mo. 
Illustrated,     xiii  +  405  pages. 


(( 


Dogtown"  was  a  neighborhood  so  named  because  so  many 
people  loved  and  kept  dogs.     For  it  is  a  story  of  people  as  well  as 
of  dogs,  and  several  of  the  people  as  well  as  the  dogs  are  old  friends 
having  been  met  in  Mrs.  Wright's  other  books. 

YONGE.       LITTLE    LUCY'S    WONDERFUL    GLOBE.      By   Char- 
lotte M.  Yonge.     12mo.     Illustrated,     xi  -I-  140  pages. 

An  interesting  and  ingenious  introduction  to  geography.  In 
her  dreams  Lucy  visits  the  children  of  various  lands  and  thus 
learns  much  of  the  habits  and  customs  of  these  countries. 

YONGE.      UNKNOWN   TO   HISTORY.      By  Charlotte  M.   Yonge. 
12mo.     Illustrated,     xi  +  589  pages. 

A  story  of  the  captivity  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  told  in  the 
author's  best  vein. 


N.  MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA 


